Making It Work
by DPIH
Summary: Set two years before the start of series one, Lilly broke off her engagement to Patrick a year ago, and she just made it onto Homicide. She is still nursing a broken heart from Patrick's betrayal, when she meets someone who is about to send her world spinning around. S/L relationship.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Set two years before the start of series one, Lilly broke off her engagement to Patrick a year ago, and she just made it onto Homicide. She is still nursing a broken heart from Patrick's betrayal, when she meets someone who is about to send her world spinning around.

S/L relationship, the early years, the rest of the team will make appearances but mainly this is about our two favourite detectives

Making It Work

Chapter 1: Day One And Already I Am Overwhelmed

Lilly Rush looked nervously around the crime scene, trying to block out the jeers and taunts that the locals yelled towards them from behind the yellow tape line. Her partner, Ben Fulcrum, a husky middle aged detective stared blankly at her as she looked down at the young boy lying on the ground in front of them. He couldn't have been more than seventeen, and the white hoodie he was wearing was soaked in blood. She'd never really seen a dead body up this close, sure she'd worked tape lines at homicide scenes when she was a rookie cop, but she had never actually been close enough to touch one. He looked so peaceful, so still and yet the look on his face was one of surprise and shock. Who could have killed this young man, she could still smell the cordite in the air and the blood that was pooled around the boy's body was fresh. He mustn't have been dead long.

Suddenly, the sound of a hysterical woman, screaming reached their ears and Ben Fulcrum turned his head slightly "Oh crap" he swore "the critters got family" he looked disgusted, as though he would rather be anywhere but here in Fairhill working this murder. Lilly had heard about him before she made the transfer to Homicide from North Detectives. He was one of those detectives that had been doing this job for more than half his life and he was just trying to get to an age where he could take his pension and leave Philly behind him. But until then, he'd do only as much as was necessary. Lilly also realised he wasn't too thrilled about having to train her, the man was a chauvinist as well as a racist.

Lilly turned her head to the rope line and saw a sobbing black woman trying to get past the uniformed officer, who was putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and speaking to her softly. Lilly also took in the looks on the face of a young boy, clinging to his mother's side as well as the ones standing beside her. This poor woman had lost a son and those boys had lost their big brother. She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

"Should I err…notify them?" Lilly asked her partner cautiously.

"Yeah go on" he said callously with a shrug of his shoulders, he seemed to have already formed an option about their victim.

Lilly took one last look at the boy and turned to walk towards the tape line, but paused and turned back "I've just never done it before" she said, trying not to let the lump in her throat make her choke on the words.

"This here is the perfect opportunity then cause this ain't nothing but an NHI" he said harshly

"No humans involved?" Lilly repeated, wondering how Detective Fulcrum could think this way, about a kid.

"Yep"

"I don't believe in that" she said defiantly

"Stick around long enough and your bleedin' heart will run dry real soon" he replied with a wry laugh.

Lilly steeled herself and walked over to the crying woman, trying not to be overwhelmed as the perfect stranger reached out to her and grabbed her coat "that can't be my boy" she pleaded with Lilly.

Lilly looked down the line at the four other boys beside her, all of varying ages and took another deep breath. She done death notification role plays at the academy, but nothing had prepared her for the actual moment when she had to tell a family, that their loved one was never coming home.

"It's Vaughn Bubley" she replied apologetically.

"No!" the woman screamed through her tears, gripping Lilly harder "Oh God no"

"Vaughn's dead?" The smallest boy asked her.

"I am afraid so" she replied, trying hard not to cry herself, cop in her fought through her sadness and she asked "Do you have any idea who might of done this? Any of you?" she took out her notepad.

"He wasn't buyin' and he wasn't bangin' if that's what you think" replied a tall boy with glasses, as he kept his arms around his little brother.

"No I wasn't…"

"He was a good boy…he worked hard" Mrs Bubley cried before she doubled over and her one of her sons wrapped his small arms around his mother.

"You gotta find out who did this lady" the bespectacled boy pleaded through his tears.

Mrs Bubley tenderly brushed his cheek "He was like a father to his brothers, you understand?"

"Yes" Lilly replied

The smallest boy ducked underneath the tape and looked up into the eyes "Vaughn's really dead?" he asked, still not being able to believe that his eldest brother was no longer alive.

"I am sorry" she replied in almost a whisper and the little boy collapsed into her arms and sobbed, hugging her tightly, forcing Lilly to stoop to his level as she wrapped her arms around the small child. "I ain't gonna make it without him" he sobbed into her shoulder.

This image was burned into her mind all day as she and Fulcrum, tried to interview the people in the neighbourhood, but no one was willing to talk to cops. The population of Fairhill hated them and they had more door shut in their face then Lilly could count.

The end of her first day had come around at seven that evening when Detective Fulcrum pulled on his coat and announced he was leaving, not even bidding her goodnight as he left the precinct.

Lilly sighed and ran a hand through her hair, she couldn't go home, but she couldn't work on the case without her partner either. Maybe she would stop by Jones' tavern on the way home, have a drink and then head back to her home…..alone….and try and process the events of the day.

…..

Scotty Valens was celebrating the closing of another case with the rest of his undercover narcotics squad. He had just come out of deep cover, a cover he'd been in for the past six months. He had practically begged Manny, his captain, to give him his first undercover assignment when he and Elisa had broken up. He had needed to hide out in someone else's life to try and forget the pain he was in. He knew that Elisa and he could not have stayed together, she was sick, she was yet again in the puzzle house and she was never gonna get any better. Elisa had begged him to let her go, pleaded with him through her tears that he should find someone else to love. Someone who could give him the life he wanted. A woman without her troubles that could make him happy, like she couldn't do.

He told her that he loved her, that they could make it work, that if they could just see the doctors again and change the meds for the umpteenth time, maybe they could get back to what they had been a year before. Engaged and planning a family.

Elisa had refused to let him persuade her, and begged him once again to leave her, because she wasn't strong enough to leave him.

He felt as though his heart was being ripped out of his chest as he stood and nodded, he pressed one last kiss to her forehead and walked away, feeling her fingers slip through his as he walked out of her room at the hospital. Hearing her wracking sobs all the way down the hallway. He'd made as far as his car before he'd broke down and wept against the steering wheel.

It had taken six months, but the pain was starting to recede slightly and he knew that he really should think about moving on. He wasn't going undercover anymore, his first and last case had hurt too much when her realised that he could do little to save the poor girls that mulled drugs into Philly. He walked over to the bar and ordered another scotch for himself and a fresh pitcher of beer for his table. That's when he saw her.

Blonde, lithe figure, sitting alone on a stool at the bar, nursing a girly green coloured cocktail and staring into space.

"Another round Jo" Scotty said to the bartender as he slid the pitcher across the bar.

"Sure thing Scotty"

Scotty took a handful of peanuts from the bowl beside the beautiful blonde and cracked one open "This seat taken?" he asked as he slid down into the plush leather without waiting for a reply.

"Knock yourself out" she replied distractedly.

Joe placed his Scotch and the pitcher of beer in front of him and Scotty handed him the money to cover it, plus a little extra as a tip "You here alone?" he asked her taking a sip from his scotch and popping another peanut into his mouth.

"Yes" she said again, still not looking at him.

"I am Scotty Valens" he said sticking out his hand.

She finally turned her head and looked him in the eyes, and then down at his outstretched hand. Seemingly deep in thought about whether or not to take his hand "Lilly Rush" she finally said and she shook his hand.

"So Lilly, what are you doin' here all by yourself?"

Lilly sighed "look if you don't mind, I had a really crappy day and I wanna be alone"

"Hey Scotty, what's taking so long" someone called out across the bar "we're dyin' of thirst here"

Scotty swore under his breath, he really wanted to get to know Lilly more but he realised that that wasn't going to happen while his squad was waiting on their drinks.

"Don't go anywhere" he said as he stood up and grabbed the pitcher, heading over to a table near the dart boards.

Lilly sighed with relief as Scotty moved away from her. It wasn't that she didn't think he was good looking, he was gorgeous, with a scruffy black beard, spiky hair, and a scent of cigar smoke and aftershave that wafted off of him that made her stomach flip. But she knew that he'd only be interested in one thing and she wasn't really looking for a drunken hook up tonight. Not when she had spent the day, trying to piece together the last days of Vaughn Bubley's life. She took a sip from her cocktail and relished the feeling of the cooling alcohol as it slid down her throat. She was just about to get up and leave when she felt a presence beside her and smelt the cigar smoke, aftershave and now a little hint of scotch behind her "So Lilly" Scotty said as he sat back down beside her "You didn't answer my question, why are you sittin' here alone?"

"I don't want to be rude but I really want to be alone"

"Well we have a problem then"

Lilly turned to face him "What do you mean?" she asked him, studying him, sizing him up and wondering how fast she could pin him against the bar if he even tried to make a move on her, but his answer surprised her "My Ma always taught me to never let a beautiful woman drink alone in a bar, not when there are a few unscrupulous drunks around her"

"I can take care of myself, thanks, I am a cop" she indicated the badge on her hip and made sure that he saw the glock that rested beside it. She wanted to warn the guy that she was packing.

"Well what a coincidence" Scotty said as he slid is hand into his pocket and produced an ID "Me too, where are you stationed?"

Lilly considered him for a few moments and then replied "North, I am in homicide"

"Homicide? Really?"

"What does that supposed to mean?" she snapped

"No nothin' its just as I didn't think there was any woman in Homicide is all"

Lilly frowned "There wasn't, until today that is. It's my first week"

"Oh wait a minute…..you're that Lilly Rush" he said with sudden understanding "I heard about how you pinched that Car Jacker by yourself last year" He said in an awed voice "very impressive"

Lilly let out a wry laugh "If I'd been a little quicker I woulda caught the guy before the freeway"

Scotty chuckled "still pretty nice work though"

A smile twitched in the corners of Lilly's mouth "Thanks, what about you?"

"Narcotics at West, just finished with my first and, most likely last, undercover assignment"

"That bad huh?"

Scotty chuckled and said nothing.

They fell into silence for a few moments and then Scotty cleared his throat "so…you hungry? 'Cause if you are…I'd like to buy you dinner"

Lilly frowned slightly "I am sorry, no" Lilly replied as she stood up and grabbed her coat, pulling it on and fishing out some money from her wallet.

"That's cool; maybe I can't buy you a dinner next time"

Lilly smiled slightly "goodnight" she turned on her heel and headed towards the front door.

"Goodnight" Scotty replied and his eyes remained glued on her retreating back as she exited the bar. He let out a breath he'd been holding and ran a hand through his hair, slumping back down on the bar stool.

"Struck out, huh?" Joe asked teasingly.

"Shut up Joe" Scotty snapped.

"Ahh man, give up. She's way outta your league"

Scotty shook his head "I ain't gonna give up that easy Joe, you'll see"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

Lilly walked into the Bullpen carrying a small tray, with two cups of coffee and four glasses of orange crush. Mrs Bubley had brought her children in for another interview with Detective Fulcrum, and by extension, herself. Her brown eyes were still red from crying and she clutched at a shredded tissue in her hand. Lilly placed the tray down on her desk and handed Mrs Bubley a cup of coffee "Here Mrs Bubley, cream and two sugars"

"Thank you, and please call me Maeve"

Lilly smiled kindly and passed out the soft drinks to the children, the two youngest boys Luther and Patrick were sitting nearby, colouring and occasionally looking over at their mother with concern, and the other two, Quincy and Cedric sat beside their mother, each had a hand on her shoulder in an effort to try and comfort her.

"Mrs Bubley, did you son run with the O's or the Ninth streeters?"

Maeve looked up at Detective Fulcrum with distain and Cedric chimed in to defend his brother "I told Detective Rush that he didn't bang and he didn't"

Ben Fulcrum simply sighed and shook his head, Lilly could sense that her partner didn't believe the family that somehow they couldn't possibly know what their son and brother was up too. Lilly put a hand on Cedric's shoulder and smiled down at him "Do you two know of anyone with a grudge against your brother?"

Quincy shook his head "everyone loved Vaughn, he was gonna go to college; he got a basketball scholarship too Penn" Lilly smiled gently at him and then turned to Fulcrum, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was reminding her of their angle, 'he talked and she shut the hell up'. Lilly cleared her throat "I'll just go check on Patrick and Luther" she said to Maeve and she smiled at Lilly.

"Thank you"

Lilly walked over to her desk where she had set the two boys up with some scratch paper and crayons and she squatted down to Patrick's level "How are you two?" she asked kindly.

Luther sighed and put down his crayon "That detective hates us, doesn't he?" he replied glaring over at Detective Fulcrum.

"He doesn't hate you; he is just trying to find out who did that to your brother" Luther shrugged and returned his attention to his drawing, Lilly shifted her gaze to Patrick and looked into the eyes of the sweet little boy, who seemed to only have realised what a harsh world he lived in, she turned her attention to the drawing under his hands and smiled "you're a good drawer Patrick"

He shook his head "Quincy is a better drawer than me"

Lilly was about to say something, when her phone rang. She could feel it vibrating against her hip. She took it out of its holster and looked down at the caller ID. She didn't recognise the number, and she wondered who could be calling her, maybe it was the CSU department, one of the Techs Louie flirted with her while they were at the crime scene. But she could tell he wasn't really attracted to her and that it was just his way of having a little fun so she had flirted back. She was happy that someone was actually pleased to see a woman on the line for once.

Figuring it could be about the case she excused herself and walked over to the balcony and headed out into the fresh winter air "Rush" she answered, taking out her notepad and uncapping her pen, ready to write down any information.

"You never did answer my question" an oddly familiar voice replied.

Lilly frowned and took the phone away from her ear, checking the caller ID again. She realised than that it couldn't possibly be Louie, the extension number was wrong. She returned the phone to her ear "Who is this?" she asked patiently.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already, we only met last night"

Realisation hit her, it was Detective Valens "How'd you get my number?" she asked with concern, she had hoped that he would of stayed away from her when she had rejected his dinner invitation last night. She wasn't the kind of girl to pick up complete strangers at a bar.

"I am a detective" he simply said "I used all my keen detective senses and managed to track it down"

Lilly smiled despite herself "And why would you want to call me?"

Scotty chuckled "Figured after the way you rejected my dinner invitation last night, I'd try again to ask you out tonight. Also I figured that it wouldn't be so gut wrenchingly embarrassing if you rejected me over the phone this time"

She let out a wry laugh and ran a hand through her silky blonde hair "I don't usually date people I've just met detective Valens" she replied, tryin to keep things professional with him.

"Who said anything about datin', I am just asking for one measly little dinner"

"Look, Detective….."

"Don't say no, Rush. I just want you to give me a shot. And if its terrible at least you would of gotten a free dinner out of it. But I can assure you it won't be terrible"

"You're not going to stop calling till I say yes, will you?"

"Nope" he said honestly.

Lilly laughed and sighed "Ok, one dinner"

"Perfect, I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Ok, do I need to give you my address or did you find that out to?" she asked in amusement.

"Now that would be a little too much like stalking, don't you think?" he said cheerily.

Lilly chuckled and gave Scotty her address, hanging up the phone afterwards. She stared down at the cell phone. Wondering how he had managed to convince her to go out with him.

She'd had to admit that he was good looking, with that scruffy beard and spikey hair. She could also remember that spicy smell that had emanated from his skin, a combination of cigar smoke and a heady scent that may be his own natural musk. She shook her head and cleared her throat. No, she wasn't gonna fall for this guy. Despite the fact that Scotty said it was only one date she knew from his actions last night and their conversation just now that he was hoping for more. She had only just joined Homicide and she really didn't want word getting out that she was dating a fellow detective. While it wasn't against the rules for Detectives and officers to date each other if they worked in separate precincts, and she knew that other Detectives and Officers were together, she didn't want to get a reputation. It was a boy's club and in order to fit in, she would have to be one of the guys. And that meant she'd have to work hard to gain their respect. She didn't have time to date. She would tell him at dinner that she wasn't looking for anything at the moment and hope he'd understand.

On the other hand, it had been a while since she felt that warm, comforting feeling you get when your attracted to someone. She had dated a few times since her engagement had broken up, but none of those guys made her stomach flip. With the exception of the occasional visits from Ray that is.

She'd know Ray since she was ten years old, they'd gone to school together and Ray had come from a similar home situation to Lilly and they'd bonded over it. Ray would often drop by and give Lilly and Christina food that he'd managed to steal from his mother's kitchen when she'd finally passed out on the couch. With Ellen Rush hardly ever home or drunk herself, Lilly had trouble getting food for her and her sister. She hadn't ever seen Ray in that way until he helped her make milkshakes when she broke her jaw. No one had ever been there for her till then and she realised in that moment that he was the kind of guy she'd like to be with. Someone who wanted to get as far away from her family as she did, someone who would take care of her and who she could have her own family with.

But it wasn't to be, as adults Lilly started to want more than a life on the road and so she left Ray and came back to Philly, joining the police academy almost immediately. And now ten year later, here she was the first female Homicide Detective in the history of the department.

Ben Fulcrum stuck his head out the door "Rush, we got a lead. Come on move your ass"

* * *

Their lead hadn't panned out and she was afraid that her first case ever would go cold. She hated not being able to give this poor family justice, but Fulcrum had it in his head that Vaughn Bubley was just another dead gang banger and it really wasn't important who killed him "Who cares 'bout another dead Gang Banger?" she heard him gripe to another detective in the breakroom.

She did, that's who.

She's got home at six that evening and hurriedly fed the cats and went upstairs to get ready for her date/dinner with Scotty. After a quick shower, she stood in the entrance to her closet, trying to decide what to wear tonight.

Jeans and a T-shirt? No, too casual.

The strapless short red dress that the saleswoman had convinced her to buy? No, way too short and sexy for a dinner with a guy she'd only just met.

She groaned and collapsed on the bed, covering her head with her arms. "Fuck" she swore under her breath. Just when she was about to give up and call Scotty to cancel, her phone vibrated. It was Lindsay Dunlay, her best friend since high school. Thank God.

"Hey Lil, wanna catch up for a drink?" she asked cheerfully

Lilly sighed "I can't, I kinda have a date" for a moment, Lilly thought that Lindsay had hung up "Linds?"

"I was just checking that asteroids weren't fallin' from the sky, Lilly Rush going on a date. Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse?"

Lilly grinned "Shut up Linds, I am gonna call and cancel anyway"

"Why the hell would you cancel a date with a living breathing male?"

"'Cause I don't have anything to wear" Lilly replied exasperatedly.

"What time are you meeting him?" Her friend asked.

"He's picking me up at eight" Lilly answered

"I'll be there in ten minutes" Lindsay had simply said and hung up.

Exactly ten minutes later, Lindsay Dunlay was standing in Lilly's closet and sorting through her various dresses. "So tell me about this guy?" Lindsay asked with her back to her as she vetoed a few dresses.

"I met him last night at Jones' and he asked me out but I said no, then this morning he called me"

"You gave him your number?"

"No, he found that out on his own"

Lindsay turned around and stared at her friend "stalker much?"

Lilly chuckled "he's a cop; he probably just called dispatch to get my number"

"A resourceful stalker than"

"I don't think he's a stalker"

Lindsay shrugged her shoulders and turned back around to the closet "So what's his name?"

"Scotty Valens, he is a narcotic detective at West

"Is he cute?" Lilly said nothing and Lindsay, who had chosen a black dress, turned back to her friend to find her blushing "that cute huh? Nice"

"Is that what you picked out?" Lilly replied as she got off the bed and walked over to Lindsay and took the dress from her hands "Little tight isn't it?"

"Just go try it on will you" Lindsay said as she pushed her towards the bathroom.

Lilly had to admit she did look pretty good in the dress, it wasn't too slutty or casual and she was rather comfortable in it. Lindsay had left a few minutes ago and Lilly was applying her make up in the downstairs mirror when she heard a knock on the door. "Crap" she said as she felt her heart speed up with fear and worry, she was wondering why in the hell had she agreed to go out with complete stranger. She swallowed thickly and walked over to the front door. Pausing for a moment before she opened the front door.

* * *

Scotty heard the front door open and turned back around to face it, to say he was nervous about tonight was an understatement. He only ever asked one woman out on a date before, only ever dated one woman in his entire life and that was Elisa. Now he was going out with, well with practically a stranger. He knew it was time to move on from Elisa but it had still it had taken him almost six months to get to this point.

As soon as he'd broken up with Elisa for good, a few women had asked him out but Scotty hadn't been interested in any of them. Lilly was the first woman he'd seen that had actually wanted to get to know.

She was gorgeous, lithe, blonde and intelligent. And as an added bonus she was a cop, just like him.

He took a deep breath as the door opened wider and his breath caught in his throat as he saw her. She was even more beautiful than she had been last night.

"Wow" he said as he looked her over "you look great"

"Thanks" Lilly replied as she felt the colour rise in her cheeks "You look good too" she said as she took in the suit he was wearing. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and black suit pants, no tie. He'd also shaved off his scruffy beard and Lilly had more of a glimpse of his well definded jawline.

"Oh here" he held out a bunch of flowers "I got you some flowers"

"Their beautiful" Lilly said as she took them from him and smelt them "I'll just go put these in water, you wanna come in for a bit?"

Scotty followed her into the house and shut the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Their much anticipated date, Scotty is dying to make a good impression and Lilly is nervous. Lets hope their date goes smoothly.

Disclaimer: I don't old cold case, wish I did back when it was on air.

Chapter 3: Wining and Dining

Scotty looked around Lilly's living room and tried to calm down, so far so good; he hadn't said or done anything stupid or embarrassing yet. He watched as Lilly retreated into her kitchen and took out a vase from one of the cabinets before filling it with water and putting the flower inside. "These really are beautiful Scotty; you didn't need to give me flowers"

"I saw them on the way over here and I thought that you'd like them" She smiled at him as she placed the vase on the coffee and Scotty turned back towards the front door "Ah!" he exclaimed in surprise as he almost stepped on two cats.

"Oh sorry about them, guess they're not used to strangers" Lilly said as she bent down to pick up the ginger cat. "This is Olivia and the white one is Tripod" Scotty raised an eyebrow and Lilly chuckled "I didn't name her alright, the shelter did when I got em' a few months ago"

"Well, they're certainly unique" Scotty replied diplomatically as he took in ragged appearance of the orange cat in Lilly's arms and he scratched it on the top of its head.

"You're not a cat person are you?"

Scotty shrugged "I am more of a dog person, but I guess cats are alright"

Lilly put Olivia down on the couch and brushed off the loose ginger fur from her dress "Should we go?"

"Sure" Scotty stepped over the three-legged cat, as it tried to weave around his legs, and walked over to the door, opening it, and walking down the steps to the street. Lilly locked the door behind her and tugged her coat on as she followed him towards his car.

"So where are we going for dinner?" Scotty smiled mysteriously at her and held open the car door for her; she paused for a few moments before she slid into the front seat. Scotty came around the got into the driver's seat "So you're not going to tell me where you're taking me, are you?"

"That would ruin the surprise" Scotty said as he started the engine and drove off down her street.

Fifteen minutes later Scotty parked the car outside a small, dingy looking Cuban place and he looked over at Lilly "Here we are, the best Cuban Restaurant in the city" He announced happily.

"Really?" Lilly asked as she took in the appearance of the outside of the building.

"Looks can be deceiving"

Lilly unbuckled her belt and got out of the car, coming around to Scotty's side of the car. He guided her towards the front door and she allowed herself to be steered inside. After a brief conversation in Spanish to the waiter, Scotty and Lilly were shown over to a table by the window.

Lilly was surprised when Scotty pulled out her chair for her and she studied it for a few moments before she sat down in it.

They looked over the menu, Scotty explaining what a few of the dishes were. They placed their orders and Lilly and Scotty fell into silence. It had been awhile since Lilly had been on a first date, and she was a little nervous to be honest.

Scotty cleared his throat "So, why don't you tell me 'bout yourself?"

"Well….what do you wanna know?" she asked cautiously

Scotty took a sip of his wine and smiled "everything" he said casually

Lilly giggled and sighed "how much time have you got?" she joked and Scotty chuckled "well, I grew up in Kensington"

"Kensington, huh? That a pretty rough neighbourhood"

Lilly shrugged, Scotty didn't need to know what happened to her when she was ten. He didn't need to know about her drunken mother, broken jaw and bruised eye. "It was alright" she simply said

"You got any brothers or sisters?" he asked

"Just a sister"

"You two close?" Scotty couldn't help but notice the change in Lilly's expression.

Lilly took a sip of her wine and took a deep breath, a first date was also too early to tell him about her slut sister and bastard ex fiancée so she simply shook her head "I haven't seen her for a while, what about you? Do you have siblings?"

"Yeah, I got an older brother Michael but everyone calls him Mike. He and his wife Allie just had a baby boy, Emilio"

"What does Mike do, he a cop too?"

Scotty shook his head "Nah, Mike is an accountant he has his own firm and Allie used to work there but now she's a stay at home mum."

"Were your parents happy when you joined the academy?" Lilly asked again, wanting more than anything to keep the conversation on him.

"God no" Scotty said with a smile "My Ma, tried to convince me to go into accounting with Mike, and Dad wanted me to help him out with his Deli. But I wanted to be a cop since I was five"

"Your Dad has a Deli?" Lilly asked in surprise

Scotty nodded "Yeah, on Park place"

"You mean that place with the blue and white awning and the cute little tables and chairs?"

Scotty looked over at her in surprise "Yeah, you've been there?"

Lilly nodded "I used to get my lunch there when I was on patrol at East, best sandwiches in the city. I can't believe your family owns that place"

Scotty smiled broadly "I'll tell my Dad you like his cookin'" Lilly grinned "So, what about your Mum? Did she want you to be a cop?"

Lilly frowned "My Mum couldn't care less what I did, she's…she wasn't the best of Mums"

Scotty was starting to see that her family was a touchy subject for Lilly so he decided to chance topics, and fast "So, how is your first week in Homicide goin'?"

Lilly was relieved by the change of topic and jumped on it "Ok I guess, my partner is a complete bastard though"

"Who you partnered with?"

"Ben Fulcrum"

Scotty rolled his eyes "yeah I heard of him, bit of a jerk?"

"He just doesn't seem to care; we have this Homicide, an eighteen year old boy. His mother and brothers swear he isn't in a gang but Fulcrum refuses to believe them. He's not even looking into any other possibilities and he won't let me contribute my opinion"

"Can't you talk to the Captain?"

Lilly shook her head "I tried, he says that I have to go along with him cause he's the senior partner"

"It won't always be like that" Scotty said cheerily "Just think, in a few years you'll be the senior partner and you get to boss around the rookie"

Lilly smiled "Something to look forward too I guess" she said sarcastically.

Their meals arrived and Scotty and Lilly's conversation turned to their academy days. Turns out that they'd only gone through the academy six months apart. They talked about the firearms instructor Mary 'lock and loaded' Laferty, a real ball buster, as Scotty had put it. Lilly chuckled as Scotty told her about some of the antics he'd gotten up to with some of his academy buddies. Talking with Scotty was easier than she thought, he was warm, funny, self-deprecating, not at all arrogant and kind of….well sweet.

Scotty took the bill from the waiter before Lilly could even react and took out his credit card "What are you doing?" Lilly asked as he handed his credit card and bill to the waiter.

"Payin' for our dinner" he replied simply

"I can see that" Lilly replied, blushing slightly "but why?"

Scotty looked at her in confusion; Elisa never had questioned him about paying for dinner, or anything for that matter. His father always said that when he was going on a date with a woman that as the man he should pay. Scotty didn't mind, it had made sense to him. So why was Lilly looking slightly annoyed at him. "Because I asked you to dinner, only right that I pay"

"Oh" Lilly replied "So if I asked you out, than I would pay?"

"No, I'd still pay"

"But that doesn't make any sense Scotty"

"Why?"

"Because it's 2001 Scotty, woman are actually allowed to pay for things now" She said sarcastically

Scotty chuckled "I am sorry, Lil I just never had a problem before. My dad always told me that I should treat a woman with respect and he said that meant things like paying for dinner, or opening doors for her. Things like that….what's the matter?" he trailed off as he saw the expression on her face.

"What did you just call me?"

Scotty felt his blood run cold, had he just blown it "Ah….I called you Lil, why don't you like it?"

Lilly thought for a moment and then smiled "It's not that, I mean my friend Lindsay is the only person that's ever called me that before"

"Do you not want me to call you that?" He asked in concern

Lilly smiled "No it's…its fine, I like it."

"That's good" he sighed with relief "You can call me Scott if you prefer, my brother started calling me Scotty and it just kinda stuck. My Mum still calls me Scott though, but usually only when she is mad at me"

Lilly giggled, picturing the man across from her getting yelled at by his mother and she actually found it sweet. "I like the name Scotty"

"Me too" Scotty replied softly. He gently placed his hand down on hers, not wanting to scare her off, but at the same time wanting to see if she was on the same page as he was.

Lilly felt his warm hand on hers and for the briefest of moments; she wanted to pull it away. But then she felt something that she hadn't felt for a long time. It was a warm and tingling feeling. The kind she got when Ray had first kissed her, the same feeling she had when Patrick had proposed. She normally didn't trust this feeling because, although it had felt good at the time, it always ended in pain and heart ache. But this time, something inside her told her to trust it just one more time.

So she tentatively run her thumb across his and was rewarded with a dazzling smile from Scotty. "Should we get going?" he asked

"I guess we should" Lilly replied, surprisingly disappointed when Scotty took his hand away from hers. Wanting to know if he would take her hand again when they left the restaurant.

Scotty wanted more than anything to take Lilly's soft hand in his, to lace his fingers through hers. But more than anything he really wanted to kiss her goodnight at the front door. Like he had when he'd taken Elisa on their first date. He didn't expect to be invited inside or anything, but if that happened it would be a definite bonus but just to kiss her would be more than enough for him tonight. As he drove her back to her apartment, he kept running every scenario over and over again in her head. He could try and kiss her and she could slam the door in his face. He could try and kiss her and she could slap him, or, and this is what he hoped for the most, was that when he kissed her…..she would kiss him back.

He pulled up outside her apartment and looked over at her "Well, here we are"

Lilly looked over at her front door and then back at him "I had had a really nice time tonight" she said softly

"You sound surprised" Scotty asked

Lilly chuckled "Well to be honest I didn't think I would, but I did"

"I had a nice time too" He cleared his throat "So….could I call you…ask you out again?"

Lilly grinned "I'd like that"

"Great" He said, but then he frowned.

"Is there something the matter?" Lilly asked in confusion. One minute they'd been smiling and the next he looked confused and almost afraid.

"It's just…well to be honest I'd like to kiss you goodnight but I don't wanna push it or freak you out"

Lilly unbuckled her seat belt and leant forward a little towards him "well then why don't you then?"

Scotty swallowed thickly and then reached up, brushing a lock of hair away from Lilly's face. His hand lingered on her face, cupping her cheek gently. He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers and held them there for a few moments. Before pulling back, he didn't want to deepen it tonight. Even though he was dying to, he didn't want to force the issue. "Goodnight Lil"

"Goodnight, Scotty" She whispered, her eyes slowly flickering open.

She opened the car door and slid out of the car, taking a deep steading breath before she shut the door behind her and ducked her head back into the window. "I talk to you later?"

"Yeah, talk later"

Lilly smiled and walked towards her front door and took the keys out of her purse, her hands shaking so much that she almost couldn't put them in the lock.

She didn't hear Scotty drive off until she shut the door behind her and she leaned back against the door. Raising a hand to her lips, it still felt as though his lips were on hers. A part of her wanted him to deepen their first kiss, and another part was glad that he didn't.

She sighed and moved over to the couch, taking a seat beside her too cats. Olivia lifted her head off from the paws and got up; she stretched and climbed onto Lilly's lap. Curling up almost immediately and falling back to sleep. Lilly ran her hands over the ginger cats fur and sighed contentedly and closed her eyes, leaning back against the back of the couch, and that's where she fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own cold case.

Chapter 4: The Other Shoe Drops

Lilly was surprised to find herself on the couch the next morning, and she was even more shocked when she realised she was running late for work. She'd barely had enough time to shower and change before she had to run out the door. She hurriedly made herself a cup of coffee in the breakroom and she walked out to her desk. She looked around for the Bubley file that was sitting on Fulcrum's desk last night but now was no longer there. She looked saw Fulcrum coming up from storage room and she decided she'd ask him where he had put it "Good morning" Lilly said happily.

"Morning" Fulcrum said tersely as he sat down at his desk and opening a newspaper.

"Where is the Bubley file?" Lilly asked "I wanted to check something"

"Basement" He said without looking up from his newspaper.

Lilly had learnt on her first day that the closed cases were stored in the records room on the first floor and any unsolved jobs, or cold jobs, were stored in the basement. "You're closing the investigation?" Lilly asked in surprise.

"No point dragging it out" he said coldly.

"But we haven't looked at all the angles yet" Lilly protested

Ben Fulcrum sighed and looked over at her "What angles? He was killed. Probably buyin' drugs or sellin' and his murder will never be solved"

"He wasn't in a gang Ben" Lilly protested.

Ben Fulcrum shook his head "Your green, but you'll learn. Everyone lies"

Lilly opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it. He'd made up his mind and she knew she wasn't going to change it. She ran a hand through her hair and leant back in her chair.

Her cell phone rang and she looked oat the caller ID, she was shocked. It was Scotty. "Hi" she answered.

"Hey, how'd you sleep last night?" he asked.

"Ok, I am a little surprised you're calling me actually"

"Why is that? I told you that I was gonna call you and ask you out again"

Lilly grinned and stood up from her desk, deciding to take this call somewhere a little more private. "I know that, it's just that I thought most guys usually wait a few days before they call a girl back"

Scotty chuckled "Well I am not most guys"

"I am starting to realise that" Lilly replied, even she was surprised by the slight flirtatiousness she recognised in her voice.

"I wanted to ask you something" Scotty said happily.

"Sure"

"This may sound like an odd question but I want you to go with it, ok?"

"Ok"

"What was the one thing that you wanted to do when you were a kid but never got a chance to do?"

Lilly frowned in confusion, he wasn't kidding; this was an odd question. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Well I was thinking about our second date and I wanted it to be something special and something different"

Lilly smiled "That's sweet of you"

"So, what was something that you wanted to do as a kid?"

Lilly sighed "You're gonna laugh at me" she said shyly

"I promise I won't" Scotty reassured her.

"Ok then, I always wanted to play miniature golf but my mum was too….busy to take us" She stopped short of telling him the whole truth, in fact her mum had spent most of Lilly's childhood passed out drunk or out looking for another boyfriend.

"Miniature golf huh?"

"Yeah, go on laugh at me then" Lilly said with a shake of her head, she couldn't believe she had just told him that.

"No I am not gonna laugh at you, that sounds like fun. You got any plans on Saturday?"

"No, I am free"

"Not anymore, I'll pick you up at six, we can have dinner first"

"Alright then"

"Perfect, see you Saturday"

"Yeah, see you Saturday"

Lilly hung up, and smiled down at her phone. Scotty had surprised her, wanting to take her to miniature golf? It was sweet. She was just about to go back to the squad room when her phone rang again. This time it was Lindsay.

"Hey Linds"

"Hi Lil, how was the date last night? Did cutie stay over?"

Lilly rolled her eyes "No, he didn't Linds but he did ask me out again"

"Really? That's great, so how was it?"

Lilly smiled "It was amazing, I mean he was funny and sweet, and I…..I don't know…I felt like it was right, being there with him"

Lilly went on to tell Lindsay all about to wonderful date with Scotty; and the kiss at the end of the night. Something that Lindsay thought was the best part of the evening. "Was he a good kisser?"

"Yes he is, and that's all you're getting out of me"

* * *

Saturday came around quickly and Lilly was a little nervous about seeing Scotty again, he had called her a couple of times throughout the week, on Wednesday night they talked for hours. Lilly told him about Patrick, and Scotty had told her about his ex, Elisa. Lilly could tell that he still might be in a little pain about her so decided that she wouldn't ask him anymore about her.

She was dressed in jeans and a red long sleeved shirt, Scotty said casual, so she was dressing casual. She just hoped it wasn't too casual. She heard a knock on the door and she sighed and walked down the stair, pausing to make sure she looked okay in the mirror. She opened it and smiled at him. If she thought he looked good last week, it was nothing compared to what he looked like now. He was in jeans also, black jeans that hugged his hip, he topped it off with a dark blue shirt and leather jacket. "Hey" he said as he took a step towards her.

"Hi" He pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

"You ready to go, thought we could grab a couple of burgers before we go to the miniature golf course"

"I know a really great burger place"

"Great, let's go"

Lilly took Scotty to her favourite burger joint and much to his annoyance, insisted on paying. Scotty had to admit that the burgers were pretty good. Afterwards they headed for the golf course and Scotty escorted her over to the kiosks "Now this game is pretty easy, maybe we could have a little wager?"

"A wager huh? Like what?"

"Let's say, fifty bucks?"

Lilly chuckled "You got yourself a deal, Valens"

Scotty and Lilly pick up their putters and golf balls and walked over to the start if the course. "You can go first Lil"

"Okay" she set the ball down and lined up the hole, she took careful aim and….whack….the ball sailed straight into the hole. Lilly turned around to see Scotty, staring at her opened mouthed. He finally managed to close his mouth "Beginners luck?" he offered as he placed his ball down on the green AstroTurf. Lilly shook her head "nope" she replied simply.

"Then how'd you explain that?" he asked her gesturing to the hole.

"My high school boyfriend, Ray, used to take me here all the time. Snuck us in a couple of time after closing too"

Scotty chuckled "Thought you said you'd never been here before?" Scotty enquired looking down at her.

Lilly shook her head "No I said I never went as a kid, never said anything about going as a teenager"

Scotty was dumbfounded. She was right, she hadn't lied to him "I think you hustled me Rush"

Lilly giggled and took a step closer to him "There's one thing you should know about me Valens"

"What's that?" She rose up on her tiptoes and hovered with her lips just in front of his.

"Never, ever bet with me"

Scotty chuckled again "I am starting to see that" He was just about to kiss her when they heard someone clearing their throat, they turned around and saw a young mother with two little kids in tow, clearly annoyed at being held up by the couple. "Sorry" Scotty said as he picked up his golf ball "why don't you guys play first, we'll wait"

The game ended a few hours later, and to no surprise, Lilly had won, and won convincingly. She had taken his fifty dollars, and stowed it in her wallet. He drove her back to her place in silence, and Lilly was worried that beating him, had made him angry. He pulled over to the side of the road and Lilly hadn't even realised that they had made it back to her place "I had I good time, I am sorry I beat you"

Scotty turned to face her "I don't care about that; it was fun watching you kick my ass" He assured her.

"Then why have you been so quiet since we left the golf course?" she asked, looking down at her hands.

"Cause I have been trying my best not to take you in my arms and kiss you"

Lilly blushed and looked up at him "Really?"

"Oh yeah" He leaned across the short gap and kissed her, and not a peck on the lips this time. She felt the gentle sweep of his tongue against her lips and she slowly opened her mouth to him. She couldn't help the soft moan as his tongue met hers. Scotty's fingers threaded through her silky blonde hair and she felt him deepen the kiss even more. Oh God he was an amazing kisser, she could kiss him all day. But right now she needed air. She reluctantly pulled away from him. "Wow" she whispered

"Wow is right; I should probably let you out of this car before I decide to keep you here forever"

Lilly chuckled "If you kiss me again like that I just might let you"

Scotty grinned and kissed her again, this time it was his time to groan as Lilly's hands grabbed at his leather jacket and pulled him closer to her. Scotty pulled back and he gently took her hands from his jacket "We should say goodnight now"

"Goodnight Scotty"

"Night Lil" She pressed a kiss to his cheek and climbed out of the car.

Scotty watched as Lilly walked up the stairs to her front door, and he let out a breath he'd been holding. He was normally an honourable guy, when he first started dating Elisa he knew that she wasn't ready for sex, hell it had taken them a few months to get to the kissing. But with Lilly, he had kissed her on the first date and now they had just made out in his car, and he had seriously had to hold himself back from asking her to invite him inside. It was going to be hell on their next date; he wanted to ask her over to his apartment so he could cook for her. Thanks to his Mum and Dad, Scotty was an excellent cook. But that meant being alone with her; is his apartment, with his bed less than five feet away from the living room. He wasn't sure he'd be able to control himself. And he really liked her, he didn't want to scare her off or for her to think that all he wanted from her was sex.

For the first time since he'd broken up with Elisa, he was happy. So while he was happy, he was just going to go with the flow. He checked his watch and realised that he needed to go home, he needed to get up early to take his mother to church tomorrow. She liked the first sermon in the morning, 6am, and ever since Scotty had joined the police force his mother had been more insistent an ever that he go to church at least once a week, and he knew his mother would only nag him if he didn't go with her.

He pulled the car back onto the road and drove back home.

* * *

"You seem distracted Mijo, what's wrong?" his mother asked him as they walked out of church the next morning.

"Its nothin' Ma, just works real busy" Scotty lied.

Rosa sighed and placed her hands around Scotty's arm and squeezed it "Is this about a girl?"

"Huh?"

"I know you Scotty, the last time you had this look on your face it was Elisa. Have you and her gotten back together?"

Scotty grinned down at his mother and pressed a kiss to the top of her head "No Ma, we haven't. In fact I haven't spoken to her in months"

Rosa sighed; she knew how hard it was for her youngest son to walk away from the love of his life. But Elisa, God help her, was sick and knew that she was never going to get any better. Her poor baby, he had seemed so hurt when Elisa broke off their engagement and left him. She wished she could help him, but the last time she had tried to fix him up with the daughter of one of the women in her bible studies class, Scotty had gotten mad at her for interfering in his life.

"I was talking to her mother the other day; the hospital is letting her out next week"

"Oh?" Scotty asked, trying not to seem like he was interested. He was dating Lilly now, or at least he hoped he was.

"Yes, maybe you should go over and say hello"

Scotty sighed "I can't Ma"

"Yes you can Mijo; she was your girlfriend since you were fourteen"

"That's exactly why I can't Ma, it's too painful"

They reached his car and Scotty opened the car door for his mother and she slid into the front seat. Scotty ran a hand over his face and tried to calm down. He got into the driver's seat, he knew the only way his mother would leave this whole Elisa thing would be to tell her the truth "Ma, I can't go see Elisa 'cause, I sorta started seeing someone else"

His mother grinned broadly "really?"

Scotty fought hard not to grin at the look on his mother's face, that look that told him she was mentally planning his wedding and grandchild. "Yeah, but it's new so I didn't want to say anythin'"

"So you're gonna tell your mother all about this new girl?"

Scotty chuckled and shook his head, he started to tell his mother all about Lilly Rush.

* * *

**A/N: Well Their second date was a success, lets hope that date three is just as great, I hop****e that I will be able to post the next chapter in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Giving Him A Chance

Lilly stared at the photo of their latest victim, Simon Bennett, as she lay in her bed that night. The man had been shot in a home invasion and Lilly and Ben had been working with Robbery Detectives for most of the day. Detective Alex Handle had been fine, showing her some of the old cases with similar MO's but his partner Detective Graham Smith had spent most of the time either staring at her chest or trying to ask her out.

She was just about to turn out her light and go to sleep when her phone rang; she smiled when she saw that it was Scotty.

"Good evenin' Detective" Lilly said happily as she replace the photo back against the lamp beside her bed.

"Good evenin' to you too, how was your day? Sorry I couldn't meet you for lunch today, got busy"

"That's okay, was kinda busy myself. We got a new case today; a man was murdered in a home invasion last night"

"I heard 'bout that on the news this mornin', was wonderin' who got that case"

"Yeah well, lucky me"

Scotty chuckled "I actually rang to ask if you were free on Friday night?"

Lilly frowned "sure, you want me to whip your butt at pool this time, or maybe poker, could use some extra money"

Scotty chuckled again "No, I was thinkin' about cookin' you dinner"

Lilly paused "You cook?" she asked, not meaning to sound so surprised.

"Course I can cook, I've been cooking since I left home"

She cleared her throat "Where would you cook me dinner?"

"Um, my place"

"So I'd be alone with you, in your apartment?"

"That's the general idea Lil" Scotty replied with a wry laugh.

Lilly thought for a few moments, did she really want to be alone with Scotty this soon? She had been sorely tempted to ask him inside on Saturday night after that kiss in his car, and the kiss he'd given her yesterday when he'd had walked her back to the precinct after he'd run into her at lunchtime, although not as passionate, was still amazing and had made her knees weak. But being alone with him, in his apartment? Was it too soon? She knew what would come next then in this new relationship, and it would involve them being naked and in his bed. Before she could stop herself she was agreeing to go to his apartment on Friday night.

* * *

Friday evening rolled around and Lilly was double checking the directions she'd written down for her at the same time as trying not to throw up. She was nervous, for the first time in a long time she was nervous. She wasn't a virgin but it sure felt like it tonight, because she knew that there was a very real possibility that they would have sex tonight. Were they ready for this next step, and after only two dates? Well three after tonight. She sighed and walked up to his building, ringing the buzzer for his apartment.

"Hello" his voice came through the speaker a bit distorted.

"Hey it's Lilly"

"Oh hey, come on up" she heard a grating buzzing noise and she pushed open the door to the foyer. She pressed the button on the elevator and waited for it to be called up from the basement. The doors opened and she stepped into the lift and pressed for Scotty's floor.

Scotty checked around the living room after he buzzed Lilly in, making sure it was completely neat and tidy. He'd been cleaning ever since he came home, and the night before as well. It was already clean and tidy but he was still he wanted everything to be perfect for her. He checked on the dinner. His paella was coming along nicely and the bottle of wine he'd open was breathing on the dining room table. He almost jumped out of his skin when the he heard a knock on the door. He took a deep breath and walked over to the door and opened it.

She took his breath away, again. "Hi" he said softly

"Hey"

He stood back and let her into his apartment, helping her out of her coat, his fingers brushed against her shoulder and they lingered near her neck. Her hair was up and all he could think about doing was kissing that creamy, swan like neck. He cleared his throat "You want some wine?" he asked hoarsely

"Thanks" she said as she followed him over to the table. She watched him pouring out two glasses of red wine. He handed it to her and she took it, taking a sip. "What smells so good?" she asked him.

"Paella, its Ma's recipe"

"Never had Paella before"

"It's delicious"

His gaze was fixed on hers, and all he could think about was kissing her, kissing those perfect lips, running his hand through her silky hair. He needed to stop staring at her before he made a complete ass out of himself. "I better go and check on dinner"

Lilly watched as he hurried out of the living and she frowned, he was acting really strange around her. The two other dates they'd been on, he'd been so calm and confident. What had happened between then and now? She decided to shake it off and she took a seat on his couch, taking in his living room, at the trophies on the TV cabinet, at the family photos on the walls. It really did look like a nice apartment. "Dinner is gonna be a few more minutes, wanna take a tour?" he asked

"Okay" Lilly followed him around his small apartment as he showed her around, he seemed particularly proud of his high School Baseball trophies and regaled her with some of the stories of how'd he'd earned each one. The last room he had showed her was his bedroom "It's not much" he said as she looked around at the king size bed "but I am not really not in here much, just to sleep and….." he trailed off and cleared his throat "I better go check on dinner" he said again and Lilly followed him back down the hallway to the living room and into the kitchen.

"Can I help you with dinner?" Lilly asked as she walked over to the stove and stood beside him.

"No, everything is under control. In fact I am just about ready to serve, why don't you take a seat at the table and I'll bring in the food"

Lilly took his and her glass of wine to the table and took a seat, draping a napkin across her lap.

Scotty came in carrying too plates and he placed one down in front of her "this smells so good" Lilly said as looked down at the meal in front of her. She picked up her spoon and stuck it in a fluffy pile of rice, and raised it to her lips "Mmmmmm, oh my God Scotty this is so great" Lilly mumbled around her mouthful.

Scotty swallowed thickly at the sound of her moan; he decided to distract himself by eating his dinner as well.

They turned the conversation to their respective days at work; Scotty started telling her about the drug bust he was involved in early that morning. After dinner, Scotty cleared up the plates and they moved over to the couch with their wine. "Might have to get you to make that for me again"

"Anytime" Scotty replied happily.

He just couldn't take it anymore. He took the glass of wine from her and put it on the coffee table. He gently brushed the lock of hair away from her face and leaned in to kiss her, one hand finding the back of her head and the other finding her leg.

Lilly moaned and slid her arms around his neck, tugging him closer to her. When she felt his body pressed against hers, it felt like an explosion inside of her. All the nerves she had felt before had all but disappeared and she realised that she wanted more than just to kiss him tonight.

Her hands slid down his waist and she started to pull his dress shirt out of his pants, and then moved underneath the material and started to caress his smooth skin.

Scotty pulled back as though he'd been burnt "It's getting late" he announced "you should go" he got off the couch and moved over to his coat rack to pick up her coat. Lilly turned around on the couch and looked at him; she stood up and moved over to him.

"Scotty, can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Do you find me attractive, at all? I mean that kiss in your car after we played golf and then the kiss when you dropped me off after lunch, not to mention that make out session right now, and now you're kicking me out, do you want…more"

Scotty was shocked "Of….of course I do Lil, your gorgeous"

Lilly sighed in frustration "then why haven't you….made a move"

Scotty ran a hand through his hair "I am going to tell you something" He sighed "I have only ever been with one woman in my life, hell I only ever kiss one woman before last week." He groaned "now you probably think I am a loser or something"

Lilly grinned "I don't think your a loser Scotty, I think that's really romantic"

"You do?"

Lilly nodded "Yeah, look I am sorry I am forcing the issue. So I'll just go" Lilly said and she made to take her coat.

"No don't" Scotty said hurriedly "I do want to try this, I have been trying to control myself around you Lil, I didn't want to scare you off because I…I like you and I want, this" he gestured between them "to work"

Lilly smiled "You've been trying to control yourself around me?" Lilly let out a wry little laugh "I've been trying to control myself around you, I almost asked you up the other night"

Scotty grinned and dropped her coat to the floor, and stepped towards her and wrapped her arms around her, he lowered his head down to kiss her deeply "You wanna stay over?" he asked as he trailed kisses down her neck.

"Are you sure?" Scotty nodded "then yes"

Lilly squealed in delight as Scotty swept her off her feet and carried her down the hallway to his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

* * *

Lilly lay, with her head pillowed on Scotty's chest, his strong arms wrapped around her "that was amazing" Lilly replied sleepily as she ran her fingers over the defined ridges of his abdomen.

"Yes it was"

"Remind me why we waited so long to do this?"

Scotty chuckled "I have no idea, but now that we've done it we are definitely going to do it again"

Lilly giggled and hugged him tighter "I would love to do it again right now but I am really tired"

"Me too, but just think, we have all day tomorrow"

Lilly giggled again and closed her eyes, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

When she woke up the next morning, she found herself alone in a strange bed. It took her a while for her to remember where she was. She was in Scotty's apartment, in his bed. But where was he?

"Scotty?"

He stuck his head back in from the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom "Yeah?"

"I was….I was just wondering where you got to"

He smiled and walked back into the bedroom, a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist. "Sorry" he said as he came and sat down beside her "just needed to take a quick shower; and a shave"

"Oh" Lilly said softly she looked down at the towel, and she fingered the material. Slowly her eyes travelled up to his chest that was still damp from his shower and it somehow looked even sexier.

Scotty noticed the change in her expression, he grinned and lowered himself down to kiss her, Lilly threaded her fingers through his damp hair and her hands slid down chest and slowly tugged his towel loose from around him.

Scotty chuckled against her neck and lifted the sheet, sliding into bed with her "Didn't you just take a shower?" Lilly asked as he slowly started to kiss down her chest. "I can always take another one, maybe with you this time" Lilly started to laugh.

* * *

"Do you really have to go?" Scotty asked as she sat up and picked up her shirt.

"I have to go home and feed the cats"

"Why don't you come back after?"

Lilly smiled "would you want me to come back?" she asked as she stood up and pulled on her pants

Scotty chuckled "definitely"

"Then I will"

"Perfect"

Lilly pressed a quick kiss to his lips and walked out of the bedroom.

Scotty sighed contently and collapsed back against the pillows. Last night had been the most amazing night of his life, not to mention this morning. He wished he didn't have to leave her tomorrow morning and go to church but he knew his mother would be hurt if he didn't go with her.

It had been a family tradition, when he and Mike were little they'd go to church with their mother every Sunday while their father was at the deli. And every week like clockwork they went. When Mike got married to Allie, they went to a church closer to where they moved to and it fell to Scotty to take his mother every week, he didn't mind. He and Elisa took her and sat in the front pew, just as she liked to do. When Elisa had gotten sick, it had become even more important to him. A place where he could go to get away from the hospitals and the doctors.

The only time he'd stopped was when he was undercover for six months, but he spent every Sunday morning praying and pretending his mother was right there beside him, helping him through.

He was happy, for the first time in nearly a year and he knew it was all due to Lilly. He sighed and sat up in bed, he realized that he was going to have to take another shower, not that he minded of course.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Moments

Lilly opened the front door and was greeted almost immediately by her two cats, her two very hungry cats. "I am sorry girls" Lilly said hurriedly as she slipped out of her coat and hung it on the coat rack. "Let's get you something to eat"

After she fed the cats she jumped in shower and changed some clean clothes, she was just about to call Scotty and tell him she'd be over in a few hours when her phone rang. It was Lindsay, no surprise there "Hey Linds"

"Lil, there you are, tried callin' you a couple of times and you weren't home. Tried your cell too but it was off, were you with Detective Hot stuff?"

Lilly chuckled "Yes, I was"

"So, was he any good? Cause he sounds like he would be good"

"I am not going to tell you any of that Linds"

"Oh come on Lil, I am single. Let a girl live vicariously" She pleaded "I tell you about my dates"

Lilly snorted "But I didn't want all those details" Lilly reminded her.

"Fine, spoil sport" Lindsay conceded

Lilly smiled "I will tell you that he is a great cook; and an amazing kisser though"

"Does he have any brothers?" she asked in an amused tone

"Only one, and he's already married with a two month old"

"Damn"

Lilly rolled her "does this conversation have a point Linds? I am about to go out again"

"Going back to his place, nice work Lil" Lindsay congratulated her

"I am going to hang up now" Lilly announced, and she hung up the phone on her friend.

* * *

Scotty had decided that Lilly deserved a quiet night in, not to mention, now that they have had sex he was going to have a tough time keeping his hands off of her any way. So before she came back, he had run down to the video store on the corner and hired a couple of what normally he'd call chick flicks. But hey, they'd probably be making out through most of them anyway.

Lilly would be over any minute now, and he realised that he was actually craving to see her again. Even though she'd only left briefly, a few hours ago.

A knock at the door made him smile and he hurried to open it "Hey" Lilly said as she stepped inside "I just got the third degree from my friend Lindsay as to my whereabouts last night"

Scotty grinned and kissed her lips briefly "hope you didn't give her every detail" Scotty replied teasingly.

Lilly wrapped her arms around his neck "no, not every detail, I left out the best bits"

Scotty hands rested on her hips and drew her closer to him "I thought we could spend the rest of the day just kickin' back in my apartment"

"Sounds good"

"Yeah, I got us a few movies and ordered us a pizza" Scotty said as he took her hand and led her to the couch.

"A pizza? Last night you cook me a romantic dinner and now I get a pizza?" She asked him as she sat down beside

"Well you see last night I was trying to impress you" He replied and he slowly started to fun his fingers through her hair.

"And now you're not?" she asked teasingly

Scotty shrugged "You've already seen all the best bits" he teased

Lilly smiled at the unintentional double entendre "yes I did" she agreed and she leant in to kiss him threading her fingers through his hair.

Scotty chuckled against her lips and started to push her backwards against the couch cushions as they continued to make out.

Lilly started to feel like a teenager again, making out with her boyfriend, Ray, on the couch at home. Only this time, her drunken mother wouldn't be walking in on her.

* * *

The rest of the evening had been much of the same, when they hadn't been making out or eating pizza; they'd been watching movies or just lying there in each other's arms. They'd finally gotten to bed late that night and when, being in bed had actually turned to sleep it was almost midnight.

Lilly was having such a nice sleep when she was awoken up by soft kisses being pressed over her cheeks, she groaned and tried to brush them off but the lips were insistent. She opened her eyes slowly and rolled over on her back "It's too early Scotty"

"I am sorry" he whispered softly.

It was then Lilly noticed that Scotty was not only awake, but dressed in a really nice suit "Where are you going all dressed up?" she asked sleepily.

"I have to take my Mum to church"

Lilly frowned then looked at the alarm clock "But its 5:30 in the morning"

Scotty nodded "I am aware of that, my mum likes the early morning service" Scotty replied "She says the priest that does the later service is too young"

"Why? How old is he?"

Scotty chuckled "Well let's just say that he wasn't around for the birth of Christ like Father Donnelly who does the early morning sermon" Lilly giggled "I'll be back later this mornin'"

"I'll get up and go then" Lilly replied and she tried to sit up.

"No, stay here in bed where it's warm" Scotty insisted as he pushed her back down on the mattress.

"What? Stay here without you?"

Scotty nodded "I'll only be gone a couple of hours, stay here and when I get back we can pick up from where we left off last night"

Lilly sighed and looked out the window at the freshly falling snow, it did look cold and Scotty's bed was so warm and cosy. "Alright"

Scotty smiled "I'll be thinkin' 'bout you, alone and….naked in my bed the whole time" he added with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Lilly giggled "You'll be thinking of me naked while you're in church?" she asked, reaching up and running her hands down his tie

"Oh yeah" Scotty replied and he leant down and kissed her "Now I better go, before my mum kills me. She like to get a seat close to the front" He kissed her one last time "go back to sleep"

She nodded and closed her eyes, tugging the blankets more securely around herself.

* * *

There was only one downside of church (apart from his mother demanding more information on Lilly) was all of the single woman, in the congregation seemed to like to go this service too. Scotty had started to notice an increase just after he'd broken up with Elisa. And they all seemed to find some reason to come up and talk to him, flirt or put their hands on his arm in a gesture of condolence that his relationship with Elisa was over. He could see right through all of them, and their false sincerity. They were like vultures hovering him as if he was a zebra carcass on the Serengeti.

After fending off the latest attack from Mrs Lopez's daughter, Anita, he sat down next to his mother. "You didn't wanna bring your new friend to church?" His mother asked as he sat down in the pew beside her.

"It's a bit early for her Ma" Scotty

"Don't be ridiculous Mijo" His mother scolded him "you're here"

Scotty wrapped an arm around his mother shoulder a pressed a kiss to her cheek "I am here 'cause it's tradition, and this is my time to spend with you"

Rosa rolled her eyes "Uh-huh" she said softly "Are you going to introduce her to your poor mother"

Scotty chuckled "Not yet Ma, I don't even know what it is yet. I don't want to scare her off"

Rosa nodded "I understand"

* * *

Scotty stood outside the church, watching the snow falling quietly on the lawn. The service had ended half an hour ago and the other parishioners had gone home, but his mother had insisted on talking to the priest. As Scotty was his mother ride home he had to wait, and rather than wait in the hall he decided to get some fresh air. He pulled his coat tighter around him and shivered "Scotty?" He paused when he heard the familiar voice, the voice that he first heard when he was fourteen years old.

He turned around slowly and saw her "Hey, my mum told me that you were…..home"

Elisa smiled "yeah, for a week now" Scotty nodded and smiled at his ex-girlfriend "so….how have you been?"

"Ok" Scotty replied with a smile

Elisa stepped closer to him "I heard a rumour that your dating someone" Elisa said softly and she placed a hand on his arm.

Scotty nodded "Yeah, I am"

Elisa's smile broadened "good, I am happy for you Scotty"

"Really?" he asked

"Yeah, I am mean, I told you too. I wanted you too"

Scotty nodded "What about you? You seein' anyone?"

Elisa let out a wry laugh "no, I am not. But that's fine" she assured him "what she like?"

Scotty smiled "you sure you wanna know?" Scotty asked her

"Yeah, we're still friends aren't we?"

"'Course we are El, we're always gonna be friends" he smiled at her and she smiled back

"So what's she like?"

Scotty smiled "She's great, I like her a lot"

Elisa took a shaky breath "that's good Scotty, I am really happy for you"

"Thanks, how are you doin'?"

Elisa sighed "I doing ok, I am on new meds and they seem to be helping me. Your dad was kind enough to give me some work at the deli"

"I didn't know that" Scotty whispered.

"I asked him not to tell you yet, frankly I was afraid that you wouldn't have listened to me about breaking up. I know that sounds conceited but I was worried you'd be too much like….you"

"What do you mean?"

"You're you, Scotty Valens, the ordinary guy that thinks he is Superman. And I was worried that you'd keep your promise to me that you made to me when I first got sick….that you'd stay with me no matter what" Elisa wiped a tear away from her face.

"I would've" Scotty assured her

"I know, that's why I had to let you go" She smiled again "you were so good to me Scotty but you deserve to be happy and I wasn't making you happy, and if this new girl does then I am glad"

"Thanks"

"And maybe sometime you could bring her by, you know so I can check her out and make sure she's good enough for you" Elisa added teasingly

Scotty laugh "I love for you to meet her, but believe me she is good enough"

The church doors opened and Elisa's mother Maria, and Rosa emerged followed by Father Donnelly "Scotty, how are you?" Father Donnelly began warmly, with a wave in Scotty's direction.

"Fine Father"

"And Elisa, so glad you are back"

"Thanks"

"Well, see you next Sunday" he said and he moved off to his car

"Elisa, come on. Let's get you out of this cold" Maria said as she approached Elisa and Scotty

"Ok Ma" Elisa replied "I better go, goodbye Scotty. I'll see you next Sunday" She stood up on tip toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Bye" he said as she and her mother walked away towards her car.

Scotty turned around to face his mother "You didn't tell me that Dad gave Elisa a job"

Rosa rolled her eyes "You didn't tell anything about Lilly"

"Ma!"

"She didn't want anyone to know yet, much like you and Lilly"

Scotty rolled his eyes, he knew he wasn't gonna win this argument, so he wrapped an arm around his mother's waist and led her over to his car.

* * *

Scotty walked back into his bedroom, deep in thought. He was worried about Elisa, even though she seemed perfectly fine. But last time she'd seemed perfectly fine was just before the last time she went off the rails. He'd come home to the apartment to find her flipping out. And instead of running to his arms to seek comfort like she normally did, she had shrieked at him as though he was trying to attack her. She started to through plates at him and he had tried to calm her down, tried to get her to see that it was him, and not the giants that she was so terrified of. The neighbours called the police, and Scotty had to watch as they took her away in handcuffs, much to his protests.

He just hopped that this time, she would actually be alright and that they finally found the right combination of drugs to help her. He may of not been in love with her anymore, but he still did love her.

"Hey, how was church?" Scotty looked up and saw Lilly sitting on his couch, reading the paper.

"Good, you should come one time. My Ma would be thrilled"

Lilly chuckled "I thought church was your thing with your Mum?"

Scotty nodded "It is, but she wants to meet you"

Lilly shrugged "Maybe, I'll think about it"

Scotty pressed a kiss to her forehead "Ok"

* * *

A/N: I know what you're all thinking but I am not about to put Elisa and Scotty back together. Read and review


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am in a good mood today, my horoscope claims today has the potential to change my life. So since I am feeling generous today here is another chapter. Enjoy**

* * *

Chapter 7: Families

Lilly watched as Scotty dug the spoon into the tub of ice cream, and slowly bring it down to her lips "Yummy" she mumbled around her mouthful. Scotty bent down and kissed her, his tongue delving into her mouth. "It is good" he replied as sat up, straddling her hips. Lilly tugged her arms, desperately trying to touch him. But it was made impossible by the handcuffs around her wrists that were attached to her bed frame.

"I've never used my handcuffs like this before" Lilly told him as Scotty put the tub of ice cream on the side table.

"Neither have I" Scotty murmured. He kissed neck, sucking at the juncture at her shoulder.

She moaned softly and as he started to nip at her shoulder she let in a sharp intake of breath.

"Didn't realise that you were like this" Lilly whispered as she started to run her feet along the back of his legs.

"Oh you got no idea what I am capable of" He replied in her ear, nibbling on her earlobe.

"But I think I am getting the idea"

Scotty rocked back on his heels again "I need to ask you somethin'?"

"What, now?" Lilly asked with a laugh.

"Well that way you can't run away on me" Lilly giggled "I was talking to Mike this mornin' he invited me over to dinner Saturday night at their place, and I thought maybe you could come with me. It would be a perfect opportunity to meet my family"

Lilly frowned "I don't know Scotty we just haven't been going out that long. I am just not sure I am ready"

"Oh, that's alright" and he looked a little disappointed. Lilly couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt, he obviously really wanting her to go with him "But I guess a dinner at your brother's house wouldn't be so bad. So okay"

Scotty smiled down at her "Great, they are gonna love you"

Lilly wasn't so sure, the last set of parents she'd met had been Patrick's and they never really warmed to her, Ray's Dad was a drunk and his mother had run off and left him with his father soon after Ray turned twelve. So the whole meeting the family thing had never worked out before. But she didn't have much time to think about it, as Scotty's lips started to trail down his neck and over her chest and all she could concentrate on was what was happening in that moment.

* * *

"What's wrong with your wrists?" Lindsay asked as she sat down opposite Lilly at their table in the coffee shop.

Lilly looked down at the abrasions on her wrists from the handcuffs and blushed; she tugged her jacket down to cover up the bruises "Nothing" Lilly replied

"Uh huh" Lindsay replied with a smile "Didn't think you were that kinky, nice"

"That's not funny" Lilly said

Lindsay shrugged "So why did you drag me outta bed at this un-godly hour?" Lindsay whined as she looked down at her watch, she normally didn't like getting out of bed before 6am, but Lilly called her and told her it was an emergency and that they needed to meet at the coffee shop immediately.

Lilly sighed "I am meeting Scotty's family tonight"

Lindsay smiled "Wow, big step"

Lilly groaned and buried her face in her hands "Oh God"

"Don't panic Lil"

"I can't help it. I am just getting to know Scotty. We just started dating and now I meeting his family, this is crazy"

"It's not crazy Lil, you like him don't you?" Lindsay asked, putting a hand on her best friends arm.

"He's my boyfriend, of cause I like him"

"So if he's as great as you say he is, wouldn't his family be great?"

Lilly scowled "We thought Patrick was great and his parents we're jerks" she reminded Lindsay

"Patrick was a jerk as well Lil; he wouldn't have slept with your sister if he wasn't"

Lindsay was right, Lindsay was always right. "I hate it when you're right"

"Lil, they are going to love you"

"That's what Scotty said"

"So he's as smart as he is good lookin huh? What a catch"

"Shut up Linds"

"Just relax Lil, it's not like you'll be meeting them on your own. He'll be there"

"Yeah I suppose" Lilly agreed

"And if it really sucks, you can just withhold sex for a few weeks" Lindsay said teasingly

Lilly giggled "Yeah, that's not gonna happen"

Lindsay grinned "Now where on the subject, a girl might need some details about how exactly you got those handcuffs marks on your wrists"

Lilly scowled at her friend and decided to plead the fifth.

* * *

Lilly changed her outfit for the fourth time that evening; she wanted it to be perfect. The door bell sounded and Lilly took a deep breath, and walked down the stairs to the front door "Hey you" Scotty smiled warmly.

"Hi"

"Maybe you ought to get me a key and then I can let myself in"

Lilly rolled her eyes "I'll think about it"

She stood back to let him in "Wow, you look great Lil"

"Really?" She asked as she looked down at her black skirt and red shirt "You sure?"

"Of course" he kissed her lips "you'd look great in anythin'"

Lilly grinned "Thanks"

"You ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be"

Scotty wrapped an arm around her and led her out the door and towards his car.

They arrived at his brother's house twenty minutes later and Scotty parked in the driveway "Nice house" Lilly said as she opened the car door.

"Yeah, Mike and Allie bought it last year"

He took Lilly's hand in his and they walked up to the front door, he raised his free hand and rang the doorbell.

Lilly's heart was pounding hard against her ribs and she felt like she was sweating to death. As if Scotty sensed the change in her, he squeezed her hand and smiled at her "They're not gonna bite Lil, they are gonna love you"

She took a deep shaky breath and nodded her head "just a little nervous I guess"

The door opened and a woman with auburn hair and brown eyes smiled at them "Hey Scotty"

"Hey Allie" He dropped Lilly's hand, giving this woman a hug "Allie, this is Lilly" he said as he stepped back and draped an arm around her waist, "Lil, this is my sister in law Allie"

"Nice to meet you Lilly, I've heard a lot about you" Lilly's smile faded slightly "all good of course"

"Nice to meet you too"

"Please, come in"

Scotty and Lilly followed her into the living room "Where's that brother of mine? Scotty asked

Allie grinned "He's giving Emilio a bath" she said "he'll be out in a few minutes" Scotty nodded "You guys want something to drink?"

"No thanks" Lilly said

"A beer would be good, but I'll get it" He walked into the kitchen, leaving Lilly alone with Allie.

"So how'd you and Scotty meet?"

"We met at a bar, he came up to me and started talking to me" Lilly began "I kinda blew him off, but the next day he called me. He tracked down my number and asked me out."

Allie chuckled "Sounds like our Scotty, very determine to get what he wants"

Scotty came back into the room, carrying a beer and took a seat on the couch. Lilly sat down beside him and he put a hand on her knee. "Lilly was just telling me about you stalking her"

Scotty frowned "Hey I thought you liked that" He said teasingly.

"Oh I did, not creepy at all" she replied a note of sarcasm evident in her voice.

Scotty kissed her cheek and pulled her closer to him, draping an arm over her shoulder.

"Do I hear my annoying little brother?" asked a tall guy with black hair, his looked so much like Scotty

Scotty chuckled at him "Lil, this is Mike. My brother"

"The good looking one" Mike added and Lilly giggled.

"And Mike" Scotty continued, pretending he didn't hear what his brother just said "This my girlfriend Lilly"

"Nice to finally meet you, he's been going on and on and on about you" Mike replied as he shook Lilly's hand.

"Shut up" Scotty said and he gave his brother and incredulous glare.

"Did you put Emilio to bed?" Allie asked

"Yeah he was pretty sleepy after his bath"

"Oh, I wanted to show Lil my nephew" he said proudly.

Allie chuckled "I am sure he'll be awake in an hour or so, he's still not sleeping through the night"

"What about you Lil, you got any nieces or nephews?" Mike asked as he wrapped an arm around his wife.

"Not that I know of" Lilly answered and at the confused look on Mike's face she clarified "I don't get along with my sister, haven't heard from her in a long time"

"So how's work going, Scotty says that you are the first female detective in homicide. I think that's great" Allie asked

Lilly looked at her boyfriend and raised an eyebrow "Am I all you talk about?"

Scotty shrugged "You're pretty interesting"

Lilly rolled her eyes and turned back to Allie "Its going okay, I think they'll finally accepting me" she replied answering Allie's previous question

"That's good" Allie said

"Can I give you a hand with dinner?" Lilly asked

"Sure" Allie replied and the two of them walked into the kitchen.

Scotty sighed "She seem really great" Mike said and she put his hand on Scotty's shoulder.

"Yeah, she is"

Mike grinned "you love her don't you?" Scotty didn't say anything, he simply smiled and that's all that his brother needed to know "That's good, I am glad that you're happy again. We were all worried about after Elisa."

"Thanks, but I am fine Mike"

"I saw Elisa at the deli yesterday when I stopped by for lunch"

Scotty cleared his throat uncomfortably "Yeah, dad got her a job there"

"You knew about that?" Mike asked in surprise

"I saw her at church a few weeks ago, she told me"

"Does Lil know?" Mike asked quietly

Scotty shook his head "I didn't tell her, but I will. I was going to bring Lil to church with me this week"

"Really? And break all the hearts of all those single women?"

"Ever since I broke up with Elisa they've been all over me, if I take Lil they'll see that I am not interested"

Mike put a comforting hand on his shoulder "Yes must be so tough being you with all of those women throwing themselves at your feet" Mike added sarcastically.

"Well someone has to shoulder that burden" Scotty replied with a grin.

The laughter was interrupted by the cries of a baby from somewhere down the hallway and Scotty, sensing that his brother might need a break, offered to go check on his nephew.

* * *

Lilly was surprised at just how easy she found it getting alone with Allie. She was a funny and intelligent woman, who had more than one embarrassing story to tell her about Scotty and Mike's adventures when they were little. Like Scotty and Elisa, Allie had been Mike's high school sweetheart and Lilly could tell by the look in Allie's eyes as she told the story of how she and Mike met that the love was still as strong as the day they met.

"You would have liked Elisa" Allie said softly "she and Scotty were practically inseparable since the moment they met"

"He told me about her getting sick"

"That boy worked his heart out trying to get her all the help he could but in the end it was too painful for him. I can't tell you how happy I am that he has found someone again. I can tell he really likes you Lilly"

"I like him too" Lilly said with a smile

Allie sighed when she heard her son sharp cries emitting from the baby monitor in the kitchen and was just about to walk out when Mike stuck his head in the kitchen "Scotty's going to check on him" He said to his wife and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Thanks" Allie said "Dinner should be ready soon, what time did Rosa and Ramiro say they'd be here?"

Mike looked at his watch "Should be any minute now, you know Ma, punctual to a fault" Allie chuckled and kissed her husband gently.

"You sure you don't want a drink Lilly?" Mike asked as he moved over to the fridge to get a beer for himself.

"I am fine with water" Lilly said as she indicated the glass beside her.

The doorbell rang and Mike excused himself to go answer the door.

Scotty carefully carried his two month old nephew down the hallway and into the living room. Making sure he kept one eye on where he was going. Emilio was gazing up at him, transfixed. The tiny little boy fit right in the crook of his arm but was surprisingly heavy. Scotty loved kids; he couldn't wait to be a father himself. When Mike had told him that Allie was pregnant, everyone thought Scotty was more excited than the parents to be.

Emilio yawned and grabbed his finger with his whole tiny hand and clung to it. Scotty stared down in wonder at those tiny little fingers, with the tiny little fingernails. He looked up as he heard his brother opening the front door and he saw his parents coming into the house. His mother kissed his brother on the cheek and gave him a hug. Rosa smiled over at him and came over "Hola Mi hijo" She said happily and she kissed his cheek "how is my little Nieto?" she asked as she gazed down at the little face.

"He just woke up" Scotty said softly

His father came over and put a hand on his shoulder "Now where is this young woman that you brought to introduce to us?" he asked, running a finger across Emilio's cheek.

"In the kitchen with Allie" Scotty replied.

"Here, hand him over" Mike said as he reached out to take Emilio from him.

Scotty reluctantly relinquished his nephew and moved over to the kitchen.

"Hey" Scotty said as he came over to Lilly.

"Hi" Lilly replied as she put down the knife she'd been using to chop up some beans.

"My parents just got here, you ready to meet them?"

Lilly looked over at Allie, who nodded encouragingly and Lilly smiled "Yep"

"Great" Scotty took her hand in his and led her out of the kitchen.

"Mum, Dad" Scotty began "this is Lilly, Lil this is my mum Rosa and my dad Ramiro"

"Hi" Lilly said

"Hello dear, it's so nice to meet you finally" Rosa said warmly

"Yes, we've heard so much about you. Nice to put a face to the name" Ramiro added "And a beautiful face too"

Lilly blushed "thank you" Lilly replied.

Scotty grinned happily, glad that his parents had approved of her so quickly "Oh and Lil, I want you to meet my nephew. Emilio" Scotty said as he pointed over to his brother.

"Wanna hold him?" Mike asked

"What? Oh no, I'd be afraid I'd drop him" Lilly protested.

"No you won't Lil, its fine" Scotty replied as he put an arm around Lilly's shoulder "Come and sit on the couch and that way you won't have to worry about dropping him"

Lilly looked around the room at the expectant faces and nodded her head "Okay"

She took a seat beside Scotty and Mike carefully lowered his son down into Lilly's arms.

"Emilio, this is Lilly" Scotty said softly as he ran his hand through his nephew's fluffy black hair. Lilly looked down into the eyes of the baby in her arms. It was remarkable how much he looked like Scotty and Mike "He gorgeous" Lilly told Mike, still unable to take her eyes off Emilio.

"He is when he's not screamin' his head off" Mike said with a chuckle "Try being' here at two in the mornin' he ain't so cute then"

Allie came over to the group and rolled her eyes "Oh please, I am the one that gets up for him at that hour" she informed the group "You're still snoring your head off. Dinner's ready" she added. Scotty stood up and helped Lilly to here feet.

"Here I'll put him in his pram" Allie said indicating the pram by the dining room table. Lilly carefully handed over the baby as Scotty and the others moved over to the table "You want to have kids of your own?" Allie asked.

"I never really thought of it before, I don't think I'd be very good" Lilly confessed

Allie shook her head "I don't think that's true" Allie disagreed "I wasn't sure that I'd be a good Mum but I think I am doing okay so far" She pressed a kiss to Emilio's head and lowered him into the pram, before taking a seat beside Mike.

Lilly took the empty seat beside Scotty and laid the napkin across her lap "You ok?" Scotty whispered in her ear.

She nodded "Yeah, I am fine. I am having a good time" she whispered back.

Scotty grinned and pressed a kiss to her cheek "I am glad, me too"

* * *

A/N: The meeting with Scotty's family has gone well. Lilly and Scotty seem closer than ever, all is right with the world. Read and review please.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Take a leap

Dinner with Scotty's family had been fun; Lilly was surprised at just how comfortable she felt with them. Rosa was warm, friendly and curious about her, asking her lots of questions. Ramiro looked so similar to Scotty and Mike that it was like looking forward in time, he seemed to genuinely like her simply because she made Scotty happy. Mike; kidded around and teased her as if she was already a member of the family. Allie offered to take Lilly shopping with her so they could get to know each other more and have some girl time and Emilio, sweet little Emilio had fallen asleep in her lap, holding her finger.

Scotty looked over at her as they drove back over to her place, he watched her as she smiled contentedly, staring out the window. "You're amazin', you know that?"

Lilly turned to him and her smile broaden "you're pretty amazing yourself"

Scotty took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand "My family adores you"

"I like them too"

He pulled up outside her apartment and turned off the engine "I'm really glad you came to meet my family"

"I am glad I met them too, they're great"

He sighed and reached over to brush a lock of hair away from her face, then leaned in to kiss her. His fingers slid to the back of her head and threaded through her silky blonde hair. He deepened the kiss pulling her closer to him, sliding his free hand under her jacket and pulling her closer to him.

Lilly moaned softly and wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, God she could do this for hours. She pulled back from him and smiled at him "Wanna come up?" she asked him.

"Of course"

Lilly and Scotty got out of the car and walked hand in hand up the stairs to her front door. He sighed and followed her into the living room, allowing himself to be dragged over to the couch. He sat down and chuckled as Lilly sat down in his lap "I hope you know how happy I am that you came with me tonight" Scotty replied, resting his hand down on her thigh.

"I know"

Scotty sighed "I want to tell you something, something that I've wanted to tell you all night"

"What?" Lilly asked

"Okay. Here goes" He took a deep breath "I love you"

Lilly stared into his eyes, searching them to see if he was kidding or not. He couldn't possibly love her; they'd been going out less than a month. He could love kissing her and love having sex with her; she knew she did with him but, being in love with her?

"What did you just say?" she asked him.

"I said that I love you" Lilly let out the breath that she'd been holding and slid out of his lap, starting to pace "Oh God, I've gone and screwed this up haven't I?" he ran and hand over his face "I knew I shouldn't of said anythin' but I just couldn't keep it in anymore" Lilly kept pacing, not wanting to look at him. He was freaking her out "Lil, please say something" he begged as he stood up and grabbed her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. She still stared down at the floor; she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "I get it, I'll just go" he let go of her and started to head to the door, swearing under his breath at how stupid he'd been.

"Scotty, wait" she called after him and he stopped in his tracks "Don't go, please"

He turned around "No I should, I told you that I love you and you didn't say anything. It's clear that you don't feel the same way about me"

"No Scotty, please." She sighed "Can you just sit down"

He let out the breath he'd been holding and sat down on the couch, Lilly took a seat on the coffee table facing him "Scotty, I need to explain to you why I am freaking out"

"Ok"

Lilly sighed again "there's only been five people in my life well, six including you, that have told me that they love me" she began "One, was my father. He told me that he loved me and then walked out on me and my sister when I was 10. My Mum, she told me that she loved me but she was more in love with a bottle of vodka or the latest man she bought home drunk from a bar"

Scotty knew that she didn't have the best relationship with her mother, but he didn't know that her mother was an alcoholic and her father was a deadbeat. "I am sorry I didn't know Lil"

Lilly smiled "Its okay" she ran a hand over his leg "I didn't tell you. Anyway, Chris, my sister told me that she loved me but then she proceeded to sleep with my fiancé, Patrick, who also told me he loved me. Might I add he yelled it at me as he chased me down the hallway while getting dressed after I had walked in on them in our bed"

Scotty suddenly felt angry, he knew that Lilly was engaged once but that was all she had told him. He knew that she and her sister hadn't spoken to her sister in a long time and this was obviously why.

"If I ever met that guy he's going to be lying on the ground bleedin'" Lilly smiled at him "that's only four, who's the fifth?"

"Ray, my high school boyfriend. He told me he loved me and asked me to marry him when we were nineteen" Lilly continued "but then he decided that he would rather be on the road then tied down to one city. He comes back into town occasionally, mainly for….well you know" Scotty scowled "Those three words, have only ever brought me heartache Scotty and now you've said them to me and I am terrified that now something is going to happen to break us up. Because I really care about you and I want us to work, but I can't say that too you now. I am not ready to say that now, you understand?"

Scotty thought for a few moments and then nodded "ok" He smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I understand and I am willing to give you time. Because I am not going anywhere Lil, you wanna end this you're gonna have to break up with me"

Lilly chuckled "I am really happy Scotty"

"Me too" Lilly leaned in to kiss him "wanna go to bed?" Lilly asked, wiggling her eyebrows at him and indicating she wasn't meaning for sleep.

Scotty laughed "Oh God definitely"

Lilly took his hand and led him over to the stairs.

* * *

Scotty was awoken the next morning by a soft kiss on his cheek, and he slowly opened his eyes "What are you doing up this early?" he asked sleepily.

"Church"

"Huh?" Scotty sat up "what are you talkin' about?"

Lilly grinned "Your Mum invited me to come to church with you two this morning"

Scotty frowned "She did?" he asked in a confused voice.

Lilly nodded "Yeah, she did" she said "So get up, because you have to get changed"

Scotty sighed and climbed out of bed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I'll hurry home, get changed then come back here and pick you up"

"Okay" Lilly kissed him lightly on the lips.

Scotty got up, slid into his boxers and jeans and picked up his shirt "I'll be back soon"

She nodded and watched Scotty exit the bedroom; she groaned and looked over at the clock 4:30am. She wasn't sure she'd be able to get up this early every Sunday, but if it made Scotty happy she'd do it.

* * *

Half an hour later and Scotty and Lilly were on their way to the church with Rosa Valens in the back seat. Rosa seemed to be very much a morning person as the had knocked on her front door, she had greeted them cheerily and offered them cups of coffee before they headed over to the church for the 6am service.

Scotty parked the car close to the entrance to the church and came around to open his mother's door, allowing her to take his arm as they walked over to the church. Lilly, who had never really been to church before, was actually looking forward to the experience. The organ music could be heard as they walked up the stairs with surprisingly, a lot of other people. A lot of them were around Rosa's age also being escorted by their sons or daughters. Lilly couldn't help but notice a few of the women giving Scotty the once over as they helped their elderly parents down the church aisle and into a pew.

"You seem quite popular" She whispered in Scotty's ear as they sat down.

Scotty glanced around them, noticing a few of single women in the congregation were looking over at him and one of them winked. He smiled kindly at them and turned back to Lilly "Yeah, Ma told them I was single again a few weeks ago" Scotty replied

"I have set the record straight however" Rosa added when she saw Lilly's smile drop slightly and Scotty nodded in agreement.

"Is that why that brunette over there looks like she's ready to kill me?" Lilly asked.

Scotty chuckled "Don't worry about her, I am positive you could take her" and Lilly giggled.

The service was beautiful and Lilly had really enjoyed herself. At times she'd look around at Scotty and his mother, either nodding along with the priest or occasionally bowing their heads in silent prayer. Afterwards, Rosa invited Lilly to go eat some lunch with them and she readily agreed.

As they were walking out of the church, a young woman with long brown hair and brown eyes walked up to Scotty and he gave her a quick hug, he spoke quietly to her for a few moments and then he smiled "Lilly I want you to meet, Elisa" He said, his arm still around the brunette "Elisa, this is Lilly. My girlfriend"

Elisa? As in, his Ex-girlfriend? She seemed nice enough though and she held out a small hand to her "Hi Lilly, it's nice to meet you"

Lilly took the outstretched hand and shook it "It's nice to meet you too" Lilly replied in surprise.

"Scotty, come over here and talk to Mrs Garcia, she wanted to ask you something" Rosa said taking her son's arm and tugging him over to a small group of women gathered at the base of the church steps.

Lilly was wondering whether she should go with him or stay there with his Ex, and she tried to think back to when Scotty had talked about church before, had he mentioned that Elisa went to the same church.

Elisa looked over at her "Scotty didn't tell you I came here did he?"

"No, he didn't"

"I am sorry, he should have said something"

"It's alright, it was nice meeting you"

Elisa sighed and looked over at Scotty who was listening intently to a small, elderly Hispanic woman. Nodding along to whatever she was talking about. "He looks happy, happier than I have seen him in a long time" Elisa spoke softly and Lilly couldn't help but hear a small catch in her voice. "I am glad he had moved on, he needed to do it a long time ago"

"How are you going anyway?" Lilly asked

"He told you about me?"

"I am sorry; maybe I shouldn't have said anything"

"No, it's fine" Elisa smiled kindly "Ok I think, I am taking each day as it comes"

"I am glad"

Scotty came back over to them, shaking his head slightly and he pulled Lilly against him "She talked your ear off?" Elisa said looking over at Mrs Garcia

Scotty chuckled "Yeah, but I think she's just lonely. So you guys getting along?"

Elisa nodded "Yeah, Lilly's really nice"

Lilly grinned at Elisa "she was just about to give me some dirt on you" Lilly replied teasingly "That was before you came back over here and ruining it"

Scotty chuckled "well then it's a good thing I came back over here then" he said "You ready to go, Ma wants to stop by the deli to see dad. Might get something to eat there"

Lilly smiled "Sounds good"

Elisa explained that she had to head home and she left, waving goodbye to Lilly and Scotty.

* * *

Something felt different that morning when she woke up, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but she knew that something was different. Scotty had been acting funny last night after they'd gone to dinner, she had invited him to come up and he had declined, maybe that's what she was feeling? No that couldn't be it.

Scotty had told her that he just had to go to work early the next morning and that he couldn't sleepover. Something in her gut was telling her that he was lying.

And while she was brushing her teeth, it hit her. It was about her not telling him how she felt about him. He had said those three words that scared her more than anything, 'I Love You' and she hadn't said anything.

Oh he had told her that he understood why she couldn't say it back, but over the last week, since she had accompanied him to church he had seemed even more distant. She knew it was a matter of time before he broke up with her because she couldn't tell him that she loved him.

She knew it was too good to be true; he was going to break up with her. She had been so happy these last four weeks and now she was going to be all alone again.

She was just about to call him when she heard a knock on the door. She hurried down the hallway, her toothbrush still in her mouth. She opened the door and came face to face with Scotty.

He grinned as he saw her, standing in the doorway with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth and toothpaste smeared in the other corner of her mouth. "Hey"

Lilly swallowed her mouthful of toothpaste and took the brush out of her mouth "Hi"

"I came here this morning cause I wanted to say something….." Scotty began but Lilly cut him off

"I know what you wanna say and you don't have to….."

"Happy anniversary" Scotty said and he held out a brown paper bag to her.

"What?"

Scotty chuckled, and lifted his thumb to wipe the toothpaste from her mouth "I said happy anniversary" Lilly stared at the bag in his hands.

"Anniversary?"

"Yeah one month"

"Oh, right" Lilly began and she smiled when she realised that she was right "Happy anniversary to you too. So what's in the bag?"

Scotty frowned "Well, I wanted to get you flowers this morning but no florists are open at…." He checked his watch "…..6:45, so I stopped by the bakery near my apartment. I know it's not really romantic but I got you a freshly baked bear claw, I know they're your favourite. But I promise you that I will get you something better later"

Lilly took the bag from his hands and opened it, breathing in the delicious smell of the hot pastry. She looked up from the bag and directly into his eyes, and the words just came to her "I love you" she in a hurried whisper.

"What did you just say?" Scotty asked

"I…..said that….that I love you" Lilly repeated, realising as she said it again that she really, truly did. Scotty suddenly started to laugh, shaking his head and grabbing onto the banister of her front steps "What's so funny?" Lilly asked in confusion as she stared at her boyfriend.

He sobered and took a step closer to her, slipping a hand behind her head and bringing his lips down to hers, making sure not to crush the bag in between them. He broke the ever deepening kiss and sighed happily "Wednesday, I dropped by your precinct to bring you dinner when you said you had to work late. Thursday I cooked you that really nice meal here at your place, even cleaned up. And last night I took you to a romantic dinner and it's me bringing you a hot pastry that makes you say that you love me? I just think that's funny"

"Why?" Lilly asked again.

"Because if I had known that's all it would take I woulda brought you a pastry before"

Lilly glared at him but it soon turned into a smile and then a laugh and soon the two of them were laughing together.

Lilly sobered and she wrapped her arms around his neck "It wasn't just the pastry, you know"

"It wasn't?"

"No, it was because you remembered our, one month anniversary, even when I didn't even think that it was important enough anniversary to celebrate. So I love you"

"I love you too" he pulled her into another kiss and Lilly, deciding that she didn't really want her neighbours to see her making out with her boyfriend on her front steps, dragged him into her apartment and shut the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Floating On Air

Lilly always thought it was corny when people in movies thought they were in love because all those love songs made sense, or that the trees and flowers smelt sweeter. She thought it was stupid when they said that food tasted better, how could an emotion do all that? But now that she was in love with Scotty Valens, she realised that all those things were true.

She thought she had been in love with Patrick or Ray before but with Scotty it was completely different.

He was sweet, caring, romantic, funny and sexy, very, very sexy. Lilly Rush was in love. In love with a really great guy for once and he was madly in love with her. After she had dragged him back into her house, and they made out of her couch for what seemed like hours (in reality it was more like half an hour) they talked. Scotty told her all the things about her that he loved. And it wasn't even the things that she thought they'd be. He told her that he loved her sense of humour, her intelligence and dedication.

Most guys that she dated; told her that they loved how she looked, not that they loved that she could make them laugh or how smart she was. Not that Scotty didn't mention her body; he did say she was gorgeous.

So Lilly Rush went to work, floating on air and with a dopey smile on her face.

Scotty was the same, although he'd been on cloud nine since the moment he'd met Lilly, now that she had told him that she loved him too, he felt even better, if that were possible. He was in love with a wonderful, intelligent and gorgeously sexy woman who was in love with him. He walked into his precinct and sighed happily as he thumbed through his telephone messages. "Mornin' Scotty" Manny said as he passed by his desk.

"Oh, hey Manny"

Manny stopped and considered him for a few moments "You look even happier than usual today Valens" Manny added "What's the reason?"

Scotty grinned "It's just a great time to be alive" He said

"Ahh, it's that girlfriend of yours"

Scotty chuckled "Yep. I am in love Manny, with the most beautiful woman in the world"

"Are you gonna be like this all day?" He asked amusedly and Scotty simply nodded "thought so, luckily I can't see you from my office"

Scotty chuckled and sat down at his desk and pulling a case file towards him.

But he found himself too distracted to concentrate, so he picked up his phone and dialled the familiar number.

* * *

"Detective Rush" The sweet melodious voice was like music to his ears

"What are you wearing?" he asked under his breath

"Scotty?" Lilly asked in surprise

"Who else would it be?"

Lilly chuckled "Good point"

Scotty sighed "I was just sitting her thinkin' about you, and finding it really hard to concentrate on my work"

"I know what you mean" Lilly replied "I was going to call you. You wanna meet me for lunch"

"Sure, but I don't have a long lunch. But I'll meet you outside your precinct at 12"

"Okay"

They said their goodbyes and agreed to meet outside her precinct.

Scotty waited for his girlfriend outside of the North precinct at 12 that day, hoping that Lilly wouldn't be too long. They were swamped over at West and Manny had told him they didn't have long for lunch.

"Hey, sorry I am late" Lilly said as she hurried over to him.

"That's ok Querida" Scotty replied and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

"Querida?" Lilly asked

"It means sweetheart, darling….why don't you like it?"

Lilly shrugged and wrapped her arms around his waist "No…I like it, I've just never had a pet name before"

"Well its time that you do, Querida" He lowered his head and pressed another kiss to her lips "now come on, I have really only got a short time for lunch" Lilly took his hand and the two of them walked down the street towards the plaza, where there were a lot of cafes and food stalls to choose from.

When they stopped by a hotdog cart Lilly raised a questioning eyebrow at her boyfriend "Hotdogs? Really?" she asked

Scotty smiled apologetically "I am sorry but I only have 15mins for lunch, we are swamped at work"

"Oh, I am sorry I shouldn't have asked you to meet me for lunch"

"That's alright Lil, I wanted to see you"

"I wanted to see you too" She kissed him on the cheek

"I was thinking, since tonight is our anniversary that I would do something romantic and special. How about, dinner at my place again?"

Lilly beamed "Okay, what time do you want me there?"

"7 would be fine, I have something special planned"

* * *

Lilly was very curious as to what Scotty had planned, she had tried getting him to give her a hint but he refused.

So she arrived at his apartment a little before 7 and knocked on his door.

The door opened and He grinned at her "great you're here" Scotty said and rather than letting her into the apartment he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door. "We're not going inside?" she asked in surprise as Scotty slipped his jacket on.

"No, we're going somewhere else" Scotty pulled a scarf form his coat pocket and held it out to her "Put this blindfold on"

"What?" Lilly looked from the scarf and back to Scotty.

"I want to blindfold you, so I can surprise you"

"You already have" She said and she turned around so he could cover her eyes with his scarf, the scent if his aftershave lingered in the material and it gave her a sense of comfort. Before she knew what was happening, Scotty was sweeping her off her feet and into his arms.

"What are you doing?" Lilly asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I am taking you to your surprise" he whispered in her ear and she felt them moving off down the hallway.

She heard the elevator open, felt them step in and Scotty shifting her in his arms as he had leant down to press the button.

"Are you taking me down to the street like this?"

Scotty answered her by pressing kisses to her neck "You'll find out soon"

Lilly heard the elevators doors open and Scotty stepped out, she could hear the distant sounds of traffic, was he taking her outside like this? She could feel the cool breeze on her face and in her hair. Scotty lowered Lilly back down on her feet and took her hands in his "Step this way" he led her over a few steps and then stopped "Okay, I am going to take the blindfold off now" he said "but I want you to keep your eyes closed"

"Alright"

She closed her eyes and she felt the blindfold being tugged away from her eyes, Scotty moved around behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "On the count of three, open your eyes"

"Ok"

"One…..Two….Three…open your eyes"

Lilly opened her eyes and she looked around. She was on the roof top, of Scotty's building, why had he taken her here? Then she looked down, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Scotty had covered the small roof top with candles, in small clusters. Some on the wall, some on the steps and in the centre of the roof was a picnic rug with a basket resting on the edge of it.

She turned around to face him "You did this?" she asked in awe.

Scotty nodded "Happy anniversary"

"Happy anniversary" she replied and rose up on her tip toes to kiss him, sliding her arms around his waist.

Scotty broke the kiss and took her hand in his, leading her over to the blanket.

They lay down on it and Scotty, propped himself on his elbow and lifted the lid on the basket. "What have you got in your basket?" Lilly asked him, trying to peer inside as Scotty started to remove

"Well I will confess that I stopped by Dad's deli and picked up a few things" He said as he took lids off the Tupperware containers, revealing all different types of finger foods, cheeses and cold meats. Lastly Scotty removed a punnet of strawberries.

"Are they for dessert?" Lilly asked

"Yep, along with…." He reached into the basket and produced a bottle of champagne "…this"

"You're really spoiling me" Lilly whispered "and I feel guilty because I didn't get you anything"

Scotty shook his head "you told me that you love me Lil, Querida that is the best gift I have ever gotten" He leaned across and kissed her before he popped open the champagne and poured them each a glass. For the next few hours, they ate, they talked, they laughed and they kissed. Lilly had never felt so loved in her entire life. Scotty certainly was spoiling her with all this attention but something was eating away at her. She knew it was stupid but there was a niggling doubt in the back of her mind that was telling her not to trust herself entirely with him, not to let him see just how much she'd grown to love him over this past month.

"What's wrong Lil, you've gone all quiet"

Lilly shook her head "it's nothing, really it's stupid"

"Come on you can tell me" Scotty encouraged "I won't think it's stupid"

Lilly sighed, staring up at the black night, star strewn sky. "I have been in love before Scotty but its never felt like this before, I think I love you more than I have ever loved anyone"

"And why is that stupid?"

"The stupid part is that I can't help thinking about you and Elisa"

Scotty frowned "What about me and Elisa?"

"You were with her since you were a kid Scotty, she was the love of your life, and I can't compete with that" Scotty sighed and took the champagne glasses that were between them and moved closer.

"Lil, Elisa was the love of my life" He began and Lilly felt like her heart was breaking, but Scotty continued "the key word being, was" he smiled down at her "Lilly Rush, I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life"

"Really?"

Scotty nodded "I love you so much its crazy; I know we have only known each other a short time but I can't help it. I adore you" He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

"And I adore you" she replied

He lowered himself down and kissed her. Lilly rolled onto her side and pressed her body against his, feeling his solid, warm presence everywhere "we probably should stop right here before we have sex on the roof of your building" Lilly muttered.

Scotty shrugged "it's okay, I told everyone to give us some privacy. That the roof was off limits"

Lilly smirked "you talked to everyone in the building not to come up here"

Scotty nodded "yeah, when I moved in to the building, the neighbours threw a party to welcome me to the building, so I got to know everyone" Scotty explained "When I told them I was entertaining a beautiful woman tonight they promised that they'd stay off the roof for the night, so if you want, we can make love under the stars"

Lilly considered him for a few moments and then shook her head "As much as I'd love to, it is a little too cold for that"

Scotty nodded in agreement "Your right; well then let's get you back to my apartment then"

* * *

Lilly lay in his arms her head pillowed on his chest, listening to his pounding heart. She took a deep breath and snuggled closer to him "I never thought it would be like that"

"Like what?" Scotty asked in a tired voice.

"The sex, I didn't think it could get any better"

Scotty chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head "You're welcome"

Lilly closed her eyes "best anniversary ever" Lilly whispered sleepily.

"Definitely"

"I love you Scotty"

"I love you too Querida"

Within minutes Scotty could tell by the even breathing of his girlfriend that she had fallen asleep and it wasn't long before he joined her.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Leaps And Bounds

Lilly and Scotty had been together and in love for almost 6 months now, and in all that time they only spent the night apart if it was for work. Scotty couldn't believe how lucky he was to find someone to love again, especially after all the crap he went through with Elisa. Lilly had met Scotty's friends and they all said she was perfect and Scotty had equally deemed perfect for Lilly by her best friend Lindsay.

Scotty had tried to get Lilly interested in the other big love of his life, sports. But Lilly never really warmed to the whole experience. But not through lack of trying however, she had bought him season tickets to the Philly's for his birthday as Baseball was his favourite sport and the Phillies were, in Scotty's opinion the greatest team in the history of baseball. She even went to a few of the games with him but found it so unbelievably boring that she decided that Scotty should take his brother with him from now on.

That was the other thing too, with Lilly not having much family they had plenty of time to spend with his and as the months went by she had grown closer to all of them, especially Allie who was now one of Lilly's best friends. Scotty was thrilled that she was also getting close to his parents and that she still came to church with him and his mother every Sunday, although according to Lilly it was just so the other woman in the parish kept their hands off her boyfriend. Whatever the reason, Scotty loved her even more for that.

Lilly had been doing better at work too, she was now working over at Central under lieutenant Stillman and been given a new partner, Chris Lassing. Scotty wasn't too happy at first when she told him her new partner was a guy around her age; he had visions of them being alone at night in the bull pen and him trying to seduce her. But after having met Chris Lassing and his wife at First Thursdays, he realised there was nothing to be worried about. The other guys she worked with were great too; Nick Vera and Will Jeffries took an immediate liking to Lilly and treated her more like a kid sister to watch after. He appreciated that she had three great cops watching her back when he couldn't be around.

But despite the fact they spent every spare moment with each other it wasn't enough, he needed more time with her. He just wanted to be with her. One night, they were in her bed. Lilly sitting next to him, reading a case file. As always, the photo of the victim was propped up against the beside lamp. Scotty sat propped up in the pillows, reading a car magazine. Although he wasn't really reading it because for the last half an hour his mind had been somewhere else. Finally plucking up the courage to talk it over with her, he closed his magazine and tossed it on the table on his side of the bed "Lil" Scotty asked softly.

"Yeah" she asked distractedly, still staring at the case file in her hands.

"Your lease expires at the end of the month right?"

Lilly looked over at him briefly before returning her attention to the file "Yeah"

Scotty nodded "Are you thinking about re-signing?"

Lilly closed the file at this point and put it down next to the bed "Of course I am, otherwise I'd be homeless" she added with a chuckle.

Scotty smiled "I was thinking, what if you didn't"

"What do you mean?"

"What if you….moved in with me?"

"Are you serious?" Lilly asked him and he nodded "But what about the cats?" she pointed to Olivia and Tripod who were curled up asleep at the end of the bed.

Scotty shrugged "They can come too"

"You're really serious about this aren't you?"

"Of course I am Lil, I love you"

"I love you too, but are you sure?"

"Of course I am sure"

"Then yes" Lilly announced with a smile "I would love to live with you. We practically live together anyway"

Scotty pulled her to him and pushed her down onto the bed as she shrieked with laughter.

* * *

The following Saturday, Scotty stood in Lilly's living room, helping her box up some books and knickknacks that she was going to put in storage. "Are you sure you wanna put all these in storage?"

Lilly looked over at the books that Scotty was putting in the box and nodded "Uh-huh"

Scotty looked over the titles of some of the books as he tossed them into the box "The velveteen rabbit"

Lilly looked over at him "That you can toss out"

"Why? It looks kinda old. Was it yours when you were a kid?"

Lilly sighed "Sort of"

"Then why don't you wanna keep it?" Lilly took it from him and tossed it in one of the trash bags "Lil! Don't just toss it out"

"It's my stuff Scotty"

"Yeah but it's your childhood stuff Querida"

Lilly sighed "Yeah, well my childhood wasn't something I wanna remember"

"I am sure it wasn't all bad Lil"

"Just drop it Scotty" Lilly snapped and Scotty sighed.

"Fine, I am sorry"

Lilly groaned "No I am sorry, Scotty. I shouldn't have snapped at you, here…." She took the book out of the trash "Why don't you give it to Allie and Mike for Emilio"

Before Scotty could say anything Lilly walked out of the room and he knew not to go after her, she just needed some time on her own.

Scotty put the book in his overnight bag for later and went back to work.

* * *

Lilly took a deep calming breath as she stood in the kitchen, staring out the window. She would not allow herself to cry, not now. Not in front of Scotty. He knew some of what had happened to her when she was a kid, he knew her mother was an alcoholic, but he didn't know what happened when she was 10. He didn't know that her mother sold her out for a bottle of vodka from the corner store. If he knew that he would start to feel sorry for her and she didn't want that. He saw her as strong and independent and she was absolutely terrified that if he found out he'd stop seeing her as the confident woman she'd become and start seeing her as the scare 10 year old girl that needed saving.

"I have finished boxing up those books, was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat?" Scotty asked as he came into the kitchen.

Lilly took one more deep breath, making sure that she'd stopped the tears that had been threating to fall and turned around "Sure, sounds good"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Scotty asked "You look like you've been crying"

Lilly wiped her cheeks, feeling that they were indeed wet "It's nothing"

"It doesn't look like nothin'" He stepped closer to her "talk to me"

Lilly sighed; he really wasn't going to drop it unless she told him. Maybe after she told him he'd stop hinting at meeting her mother.

"I have to tell you something, it's not something that I really want you to know but you deserve to know"

"If you don't want to tell me…."

"No, I have to" she interrupted him "maybe you should sit down"

Scotty waited a beat before pulling out the kitchen chair and taking a seat

Lilly started to pace, she couldn't look at him when she told him or she'd breakdown. "I am only going to tell you once" She took a deep breath "It happened when I was 10. My mother wanted me to go down to the corner shop on my bike to get her a bottle of vodka. It was late, almost midnight and I really didn't want to go but she begged me. So I went" Tears were burning behind her eyes and she fought hard not to cry now "The storekeeper knew me, I often went there on the way home from school to get my mum a drink. I set off, the street seemed darker than usual and some of the streetlights were out. I was scared but I tried not to panic, I was halfway there when I heard someone calling out to me. I stopped my bike and turned around. He came over to me and asked me why I was out so late, when I told him he laughed and demanded I give him my money. I gave him all I had but it wasn't all he wanted" Lilly finally turned around to face him and to her surprise she could see tears in her boyfriend's eyes.

"What happened then?" He asked in a choked voice.

Lilly closed her eyes and continued "He…..hit me, over and over and over again. I had a broken jaw and a black eye. I tried to fight back, I screamed for help and kicked and punched at his arms. I heard someone yelling in the distance and he finally stopped hitting me. He ran off"

"Who called out?"

"A neighbour, he called me an ambulance and stayed with me till they got there"

"Oh Lil, I shouldn't of asked anything. I am so sorry"

"Don't apologise Scotty, I should have told you a long time ago"

Scotty got up off his seat and pulled Lilly into his arms and she buried her head in his shoulder. She cried silently and hugged him, not wanting to let go of him.

He whispered words of comfort to her, pressing occasional into her hair "did they ever catch the bastard?" he asked, and her swallowed thickly to try and hold back tears of his own. "Yes, it was actually Lieutenant Stillman. Well he was just a detective at the time"

"Really, so Stillman knows all about it?"

Lilly nodded "Yeah, he really helped me"

Scotty pulled back from her and he lifted her chin to look down at her, instead of the pity that she expected to see in his dark eyes, she saw pride "You survived all that, and you still became this amazing woman Lil. It makes me love you even more"

Lilly eyes filled with tears again and she fell back into his arms squeezing him tightly.

* * *

Scotty couldn't sleep that night, all he could think about was what Lilly had told him. When they returned to his apartment with her suitcases and the cats, they had decided on an early dinner and collapsed on his bed, now their bed, and Lilly had fell asleep almost immediately. But he was having trouble, how could someone do that to a little girl, how could Lilly's mum have sold her out like that. She was meant to take care of her daughters, not let some psycho beat her up.

He looked down at her as she slept peacefully, her head pillowed on his chest. He hugged her closer to him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Lilly slowly opened her eyes "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" he whispered

"Its ok, why aren't you sleeping?"

"Just thinkin'"

"About what I told you?" Lilly asked a hint of guilt in her voice.

"Nah, was thinking about how I was gonna tell Ma that we are living together, she doesn't think couples should live together before they're married"

"Oh" Lilly replied but she could sense that he was lying "I am sure she won't care, I pretty sure she knows that we sleep together"

"How would she know that?" Scotty questioned

Lilly chuckled "A couple of weeks ago, when you went to the gym. Your Mum came by the apartment while I was still here"

"So, that she wouldn't be able to tell we are sleeping together just cause you were in my apartment"

Lilly blushed "I was only wearing your shirt and my underwear at the time, I pretty sure she guessed"

Scotty smirked "That will do it"

Lilly sighed "I am sure she really won't care Scotty, we are in love and we are happy"

"Yeah, guess you're right" Scotty replied "I love you, Lil"

"I love you too"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Party Time

Lilly settled into living with Scotty quite easily, she loved waking up with him in the morning, going to sleep beside him at night and every moment in between. Despite Scotty's fears that Rosa and Ramiro would be angry at them moving in together, his parents had been surprisingly supportive.

At first she thought that living with a guy again was going to be difficult, especially since Scotty lived in a very manly apartment, with sports posters and trophies all over the place. But Scotty really wanted her to feel at home and told her that they could redecorate any way she wanted. It only took a coat of paint and a few pieces of her furniture to make her feel less like she was living in a man cave.

It took them a few weekends to move all of her stuff, either to his apartment or into storage until Lilly decided what she wanted to do with it. The move felt truly final, when she handed her keys back to the landlord who wished her well. She was a little emotional that evening, she'd been living in that apartment since she left home at eighteen and apart from her month long road trip with Ray when she was nineteen; she'd never lived anywhere else. It was going to take some getting used to but she felt that she was definitely making the right choice. Making this next step with Scotty was what she really wanted, she loved him and he loved her. They were going to be really happy together.

Scotty had never lived with a woman before, Elisa's parents didn't want them to live together before they got married and he was pretty sure that they didn't like her staying over most nights. So they had maintained separate apartments and did spend a few nights apart. Living with Lilly, full time was going to be interesting. Judging from the large amount of stuff Lilly brought with her when she slept over, his tiny bathroom was going to be cover in…..girly products. He also knew that he was going to have to redecorate his apartment too, which worried him more. He had heard horror stories from a few of his friends that after their girlfriends moved in, their apartments became unrecognisable.

Lilly thankfully didn't go overboard and only insisted that he take down a few of his sports posters, paint the walls a beige colour (which after six years of staring at grey walls was actually quite nice) and get rid of one of his old couches. It didn't look too bad, his taste was still there but Lilly have just refined it a little. It looked even better now and Scotty was pleased.

* * *

Lilly swore again as the cord from her hair dryer sent the container of cotton buds fly, and she manoeuvred around Scotty to pick them up. Scotty sighed and wiped off the remaining shaving cream from his face "This bathroom is way too small isn't it?" He exclaimed as he crouched down to help her.

"It's fine, we might just have to take it in turns in the bathroom" Lilly suggested.

Scotty frowned "But I like sharing a shower with you" He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips

"I like showering with you too, but this…" she gestured to the bathroom sink that was overloaded with hair, skin, beauty and shaving products.

"Is a little ridiculous" Scotty finished her sentence and she nodded "Maybe we could look for a bigger place together?" He suggested.

"But you love your apartment building Scotty, I couldn't ask for you to move for me"

Scotty sat down on the edge of the bath and pulled her into his lap "First of all, it's our apartment building" he began hugging her tightly around the middle "and secondly, I love you more and we really can't keep livin' in this squishy apartment with the two of us and all of our stuff" Lilly knew he was right, it didn't even occur to either of them until all of her stuff was in his apartment, exactly how small his apartment was. "Hey I know, Mrs Benedict from two floors down was looking to sell her place, she wanted to move to Seattle to be closer to her grandchildren, why don't we put in an offer? It's a two bedroom condo and its got a big bathroom"

Lilly lifted her hand and wiped off a glob of shaving gel that was stuck to his earlobe "buy a place, are you serious?"

Scotty nodded "Yeah, I mean between the two of us we could swing the mortgage payments and interest rates are pretty low at the moment, why not"

Lilly snorted and shook her head "You're crazy" she exclaimed.

"Crazy in love with you" he replied with a cheesy grin and he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She rolled her eyes "I guess we could look into it, see what size mortgage we could afford"

Scotty grinned "great, we can go see the bank today at lunch time" He said happily and he shifted Lilly off his lap and stood up, walking back into the bedroom to get changed.

"What, right away?"

"Why not?" Scotty asked "The sooner we get a bigger place the sooner we can stop livin' like tinned sardines"

Lilly watched him as he pulled on a pair of black trousers and slid a white t-shirt over his head. She sighed as she realised he was right, they couldn't keep living in each other's pockets or they'd kill one another. "Okay, I'll meet you at the bank at lunch time"

Scotty smiled and crossed the room to her and slid his arms around her waist "I love you" he said

"I love you too"

* * *

Time flew by so quickly over the next few weeks, it was as if someone had hit fast forward on her life. Before she knew it, she and Scotty had a mortgage and had bought Mrs Benedict's apartment. Normally moving this fast would have freaked her out but now that she was with Scotty, it was not scary, it was exciting.

"Now this is more like it" Scotty cried happily as they walked into the empty living room, much more spacious then Scotty's apartment.

"Definitely" Lilly agreed "but what are we going to do with the spare room?"

Scotty shrugged "we'll we could use it as an office, or have a bed in there for when Em gets older and wants to stay with his uncle and aunt. Or maybe one day" he slid his arms around her from behind "we can put our baby in there"

Lilly turned in his arms "You've thought about that?" she asked, running her hands over his shoulders.

Scotty nodded "I haven't stopped thinkin' about all that stuff Lil"

"Well, maybe one day" Lilly whispered "but not now, we definitely can't have one now"

"No, not yet but someday I'd like to be a father" Scotty said "What about you, don't you want to be a mum one day?"

Lilly shrugged "To be honest I never really thought about it, Patrick didn't want kids so I never really thought of them as an option. And I didn't want to have them alone so, I don't know"

Scotty sensed that his girlfriend was starting to freak out so he decided to change the subject "I was talking to Ma, she wanted to come over and see the apartment on Sunday after Church. But I was thinking we invite everyone over Sunday night, you can invite the guys from work too"

Lilly sighed with relief at the reprieve Scotty's change of subject offered her and she pounced on it "Sounds good, as long as you cook"

Scotty nodded "Great, I let them know" He kissed her gently "Alright let's get unpacking"

Lilly nodded and followed Scotty into the bedroom as the moving men started to bring in their furniture from upstairs.

* * *

Scotty busied himself in the kitchen most of Sunday afternoon, making sure everything was perfect for their house warming party. Not only had they invited Scotty's parents, Mike, Allie, Nick, Nick's wife Julie, Will, Chris Lassing, Chris's wife Amanda and Lilly's friend Lindsay. They had also invited Manny Fernandez and three of the other guys that worked with Scotty, Adam Beckett, Steve Bowen and Javier Garcia.

All those people in the apartment, a sit down dinner was out of the question. So Scotty and Lilly decided that they would just have more of a buffet style where their guests could mingle and eat a selection of foods, both from Ramiro's deli and food Scotty cooked himself.

"Everything smells really good" Lilly exclaimed as she entered the kitchen.

Scotty turned around to thank her, as he saw what she was wearing his mouth fell open and his eyes widened. Lilly was wearing a satin, navy pencil dress with a rather low neck line that was only just appropriate. Scotty practically drooled as his eyes roamed over the silky material that hugged her every curve and made her look even more gorgeous. "Wow Lil, you look beautiful" Scotty exclaimed almost breathlessly.

"Thanks" Lilly replied "it's new"

"Very hot"

Lilly giggled and Scotty slid his arms around her, he couldn't help lowering his head to kiss down her neck.

"You really should be getting ready yourself" Lilly murmured.

Scotty didn't answer, instead is hands started to wander up and down her back, sliding round to stoke her hips as he continued to nip and suck on her neck.

"Stop it, I don't want a hickey" she chuckled and she gently shoved him backwards.

He sighed dramatically "Well I'll just have to pick this up later"

Lilly winked "If you're not too tired later"

Scotty pressed a kiss to her cheek and headed into the bedroom to change.

Lilly heard the knock on the door and emerged from the kitchen, she double checked that the living room was clean and went to open the front door. Rosa and Ramiro greeted her warmly; Ramiro had a few plates in his hands laden with some of Ramiro's specialties. Crispy shrimp fritters, Huevos rellenos de atun (essentially devilled eggs) and tortilla de patata (or potato omelet). Rosa also brought some of her home made churros dipped in chocolate.

"This all looks good, thanks" Lilly replied as they came in and started to set up the food on the tables Scotty had set up in the corner.

"It's our pleasure Lilly" Ramiro said "You look very beautiful tonight"

"Thanks"

"Where is Mijo?" Rosa added, looking around the living room for her son.

"He's just finishing getting ready" Lilly answered "I'll just go tell him you're here"

* * *

Scotty stepped out of the shower, wrapped the towel around his waist and quickly dried his hair with another one. He opened the medicine cabinet, took out his cologne and splashed some on.

"Scotty?"

"In here" Scotty called back.

Lilly appeared in the doorway of their en-suite "Hey"

Scotty turned around and grinned at her "Hey" he advanced on her and before she knew what was happening she was lying on the bed and he was on top of her. Scotty's lips began to work their way down her neck again and Lilly giggled "I hate to interrupt you…"

"Then don't" Scotty's muffled voice replied, his lips pressed to her flesh.

"…your parents are here" she tried not to sound as amused as she was.

Scotty lifted himself off her by his elbows and looked down at her "you could have told me before"

"You didn't exactly give me the chance" she replied cheekily.

Scotty got off her so quickly it was as if he'd been electrocuted

"You don't think they heard us do you?" he asked in a panic as he slid on a pair of clean boxers

Lilly shrugged "I don't know" she loved to tease him, she was perfectly sure that Ramiro and Rosa hadn't heard them but pressing this particular button with her boyfriend was amusing.

"Crap" he began "You go out there and act like nothing has happened…."

"Nothing did happen…..unfortunately" Lilly teased

"That's not helping" and Lilly giggled "Just go and tell them I'll be out in a minute" scotty said in a panicked voice.

Lilly nodded and walked out of the bedroom, an amused look on her face.

* * *

An hour later and their living room was full with their friends and Scotty's family. Scotty leant against a wall, watching Lilly talking animatedly to Chris and his wife Amanda. He sighed contentedly "You really are head over heels aren't you"

Scotty tore his gaze away from Lilly and turned to see his brother standing next to him, holding out a beer.

He took it and nodded "Yeah, I am"

Mike leant against the wall next to him "I am happy for you Scotty, last year….with Elisa, I was worried about you"

Scotty continued to stare at his girlfriend as if drawing strength from her "you were?"

"Yeah, Allie and I….we thought that you'd never be happy without her, but when you told us about Lil, none of us suspected that you'd fall for anyone harder than Elisa"

Scotty smiled and, as if sensing she was being watched, Lilly turned to face him shooting him a dazzling smile before returning her attention to Chris and Amanda. "Neither did I, but I am glad I did. Lil's perfect"

Mike clapped his brother on the shoulder "Yeah, she is"

* * *

A/n: tried posting the link for Lilly's dress here but it won't work so if you wasn't it Pm me and I will send it to you. Read and review ㈳5


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Green Eyed Monster

Lilly sat at her desk, typing up her notes on a case that she to testify in court for in two days' time. She was nervous, she had testified in court before but this was this was the first time she was testifying as lead detective on the case. Will thought it was time and that she was ready to handle a case on her own and he'd been right. She'd closed the murder case quite quickly and a court date had been set.

"Detective Rush?"

Lilly looked up from her computer at the sound of her name and saw Assistant District Attorney Jason Kite at her desk, holding a huge stack of files.

"Kite" she greeted him

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go over your testimony for Thursday."

Lilly looked at her watch "I am really swamped here and Boss and my Boyfriend are on me to be home at a decent hour for once"

Kite frowned "I didn't know you had a boyfriend"

"Yeah, Scotty Valens. He's a Narc Detective at West."

Kite cleared his throat "Well no matter, we could go back to your place and that way you're not breaking your promise to either your boyfriend or Lieutenant Stillman"

Lilly chuckled "I suppose"

"We can even pick up some take out on the way home, make it a working dinner"

Lilly shut down her computer "Why not, I'll pick up something extra for Scotty; it would be nice for him not to have to cook"

"Was he coming over for some romantic dinner? I hope I am not interrupting anything?"

Lilly shook her head "No we live together; we just bought a place together"

Kite seemed a little uncomfortable for a few moments but he shook it off "That's great, must be paying you Homicide Detectives better than us ADA's, I still rent"

Lilly chuckled and the two of them walked out of the apartment together.

* * *

Scotty smiled when he got Lilly's text that she was on her way home with take away. It was 6:30 and for once she was actually on her way home instead of still working. He was thrilled that she was bringing home take away as well. It meant less time in the kitchen for him and therefore more time he could spend with her.

He even stopped by the flower shop on the corner and bought her a dozen red, long stemmed roses. He was stepping off the elevator and walking towards the apartment when he heard her musical laughter. It always made him smile when he heard it; she looked so beautiful when she laughed. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and slid them into the lock, that's when he heard another voice in his apartment, a male voice.

He pushed it opened; expecting to see one of the guys but instead there was someone he had never seen before. A man in his early thirties, Scotty would guess with brown hair, eyes. Who the hell was he and, why was he in their apartment?

Lilly looked up at him and smiled broadly "Hey you, your home"

Scotty cleared his throat "Err yeah; it was pretty slow so I thought I'd leave early."

"Scotty this is ADA Kite, he's helping go over my testimony for Thursday"

"Is he?" Scotty looked over at Kite, who, he was happy to say, shrank slightly under his heated gaze.

"Yeah, I guess I was a little nervous at the prospect of testifying….are those for me?" She asked when she noticed the flowers in his hands

"Yes"

"Oh that's so sweet" She stood up and pressed a kiss to his cheek and took the flowers from him "I'll just go put them in water"

Scotty sat down on the couch that Lilly had been sitting "So Kite is it?"

He nodded "Yeah, Jason"

"Do you do this…." He gestured to the files open on the coffee table "….with all the detectives you prepare?"

Kite swallowed visibly "Oh, you know I help out where I can"

"Uh-huh" he said, he was unconvinced.

Lilly returned with the vase of roses and put them on the dining room table "There's some Chinese food on the table there if you hungry Scotty" Lilly said as she came back around to sit on the couch again.

"I am not that hungry" Scotty replied coolly "Thought I'd offer my services, I have testified as lead detective a few times"

"Thanks" Lilly said happily and she ran a hand down his arm "that would be great"

Kite didn't look so sure and he cleared his throat.

"Right, where were we?" he began, casting a nervous glance at Scotty who was still glaring at him.

He knew that it wouldn't be easy, he'd been attracted to Lilly from the moment he'd seen her, a couple of months ago. But he'd had no idea that she was seeing someone, let alone living in an apartment that they bought together.

And now this detective was glaring daggers at him, he didn't intimidate easily but this Scotty guy was making him feel un-easy.

* * *

Lilly showed Kite out twenty minutes later, realising that it was a lost cause for them to continue. Scotty was practically scent marking his territory the whole time he sat there on the couch beside her and she couldn't figure out why.

She was annoyed at him, how dare he interfere, he was acting so aggressive towards Kite, he practically scared the guy out of their apartment.

She stormed into the bedroom, prepared to give Scotty a piece of her mind, and found him sliding out of his shirt "Kite gone?" he asked casually.

What the hell was all that?" Lilly snapped.

"What was what?" Scotty asked calmly

"You were acting like a crazy person out there" Lilly clarified "What's your problem with Kite?"

"What was he really doing here?" Scotty countered his anger starting to rise slightly.

"I told you, he was helping with the testimony"

Scotty rolled his eyes and took a step towards her "He was hitting on you" Scotty protested

"What?"

"He was checking you out when I walked in to the room"

Lilly shook her head "No he wasn't" she protested

"Yes he was Lil; I know when a guy is checking out a woman. He was practically staring at your chest the whole time you were talking to him"

Lilly suddenly found herself very amused at her boyfriend's sudden reaction "You're jealous"

"I am not jealous" He replied

Lilly nodded her head "Yes you are jealous, you don't have to worry about anything. Even if he is interested in me, I am not interested in him. I am with you"

"I just don't like him" Scotty grumbled

Lilly sighed as she took a step towards him and pressed herself closer against his body "You know, I think it's really hot that you're jealous"

He was now very intrigued, one minute Lilly and he had been arguing and now she was definitely coming on to him. Scotty slipped his hands around her waist "Oh yeah?"

Lilly nodded "Uh-huh" She whispered and she leaned in to whisper in his ear "And you know what else was hot?"

"What?" he asked curiously

"That beard" she whispered and she gently brushed his earlobe with her tongue.

"What beard?" Scotty asked in confusion.

Lilly chuckled "The beard that you had the day we met. You know?" she brushed a finger over his chin "I also liked the spikey hair" She pulled back and winked at him.

"You liked that huh?" Lilly nodded again "Well maybe I'll just have to grow it back then"

"Maybe" she said happily

Scotty had never needed her more than he did in that moment. He swept her into his arms and she shrieked with laughter as he all but tossed her on the bed.

Lilly griped his arms as he moved up over her and settled his weight gently down on top of her "You are just so gorgeous Lil, and I love you so much. I don't ever wanna lose you"

Lilly lifted her hand and cupped his face "I love you too and I am not going anywhere" He dipped his head and kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth and twinning it around hers.

* * *

Lilly was running late, she was meant to be meeting Scotty for dinner but she had gotten caught up at work. She hurried through the front door of the West precinct and was greeted by one of the uniform officer.

"Hello Detective Rush"

"Oh hey Kendal, is Scotty around?"

Officer Kendal nodded "Yeah, he's in the break room"

"Thanks" Lilly walked over to break room but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that he wasn't alone in the break room.

A woman, no older than twenty was sitting at the break room table, her hot pink tube top hardly able to contain her obviously surgically enhanced breasts. She watched as her boyfriend, _HER BOYFRIEND_, sat down on the table beside her and leaned in to talk to her. The blonde skanck reached out and started to play with his tie, the tie Lilly had given him.

She stepped closer so she could hear what they were saying, but hid behind the door so they didn't see her.

"You get me what I need" Scotty began softly, in that sultry, sexy voice that always sent tingles through her body "and I'll get you that steak dinner"

"I know you will too Scotty" The hussy replied in a flirty tone.

Scotty chuckled "Now get outta here, I am workin'" Lilly flattened herself against the wall and watched the mysterious blonde walk past and out of the squad room, attracting more than a few glances from male officers. Lilly took a deep breath and then turned into the breakroom.

"Hey" Scotty said cheerfully "if you give me five minutes I'll be ready to go"

"Who was that?" Lilly asked as calmly as she could.

"Oh that was Blair; she's helping us out on a case"

"I bet she is" Lilly muttered.

Scotty closed the file in his hands and put it down on the table "Is that a hint of jealously I detect in your voice Detective Rush?"

"No" Lilly lied

"Good, 'cause I am not in the least bit attracted to her"

Lilly frowned in confusion "Really?"

Scotty nodded "yeah, I like woman that are real" he assured her "she is just an informant"

"But I heard you flirting with her"

Scotty took a step towards her "you're jealous" he whispered

"I am not"

Scotty pulled her closer to him and shut the breakroom door "You are jealous, and you were right"

"What am I right about?"

"That jealousy is hot"

"I am not…" Scotty pressed his lips to her, cutting off the rest of her sentence. She groaned softly and wrapped her arms around his neck as they deepened the kiss. She felt one of his hands leaving her back and heard the clacking of the blinds as Scotty lowered them. She pulled back from him "…jealous" she finished "why did you close the blinds?" Lilly asked looking across at the now covered window.

"Don't wanna give the boys a free show" Scotty whispered softly and lowered his head down again to kiss her.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: As the name of this chapter suggests, this chapter is set one year on from the last. Lilly and Scotty have been together of a year and a half now.

Chapter 13: One Year Together

Scotty trudged up the hallway to their apartment, feeling like death warmed up, his handkerchief in his hand. He had just gotten back from the doctor, who told him he had the flu. He felt absolutely lousy. He put the key in the lock and opened the front door "Lil, you home" he asked, his voice sounded very congested and he coughed.

Lilly emerged from the kitchen, concern written across her face "Are you alright?" Lilly asked him.

"I have to flu" he sniffed and pulled his coat tighter around him.

"Oh I am sorry baby, can I do anything for you?"

Scotty shook head "No, I called Ma and she gonna bring over some chicken soup" He replied as he sunk down on the couch. Tripod leapt up beside him and curled up in his lap.

Lilly giggled "you called your mummy"

"She always takes care of me when I am sick" he replied absently stroking the cat his lap

She slumped down on the couch beside him "Oh that's so cute" She replied

"I am not cute I am sick, I think I am gonna go lie down in the spare room"

"Why in the spare room?" Lilly asked as he shifted the cat off his lap and stood up.

"I don't wanna get you sick so I'll sleep in there till I am not all…..germy"

"Don't be ridiculous"

"No I don't want you to get sick" Scotty replied and before she could answer he had walked off in the direction on the spare room.

* * *

Lilly looked up from her book as Rosa reappeared in the living room "How is he?" Lilly asked

Rosa smiled warmly "Whining about how sick he is but other than that he is alright, I have left you some soup in the fridge if you're hungry"

"Thanks Rosa, I am sorry that he got you to come all the way over here. He wouldn't let me come within two feet of him"

Rosa chuckled "He's just a big mummy's boy, give him some time I am sure he'll let you take care of him"

Lilly smiled "thanks, look if he's still too sick to take you to church on Sunday I will go with you"

Rosa shook her head "It's fine, you should stay with him. I am perfectly capable of going to church by myself one Sunday. Besides my boy might need you more than me" Lilly giggled "It would be good practice for when you two give me grandbabies"

Lilly swallowed thickly, she wasn't about to tell Rosa she wasn't sure she ever wanted children. "I suppose" she answered.

Rosa picked up her coat "well I better go, call me if you need me"

"Sure, thanks again"

Rosa showed herself out.

* * *

Lilly couldn't sleep that night, she tossed and turned and tried to settle down but she just couldn't sleep. She'd gotten so used to Scotty lying beside her that she couldn't sleep without him. This was just so stupid, if Scotty had the flu she most likely already exposed to his germs anyway so why did they have to sleep in separate beds.

Besides she really was feeling frustrated, so she slid out of bed and walked down the hallway to the spare room.

Lilly opened the door a crack and saw him, curled up but not asleep in the middle of the bed "What are you doing in here?" Scotty asked, still sounding really congested.

"I couldn't sleep" Lilly whispered as she came across the floor, lifted the covers and slid into the bed with her boyfriend.

"Lil, I really don't want you getting sick too"

"It would be worth it, besides I am really lonely" Lilly leaned in and trailed kisses along his shoulder.

"Querida, what are you doin'?"

"What do you think?" Lilly slid her hand down his side and under the sheet; she felt Scotty tense as her fingertips traced slow patterns along the waistband of his pyjama bottoms.

"Baby, we shouldn't do this while I am sick" He replied as he rolled onto his back

Lilly wasn't about to back off without a fight and she started to kiss her way along his neck and her hand slid beneath the material of his underwear and stroked him. "Oh God Lil"

"Kiss me" she whispered in his ear.

Scotty was panting heavily as she continued to stroke him gently and as she lifted her head up he wrapped a hand around the back of her head and pulled her mouth down to his. He surged forward and rolled her underneath him, starting to slowly unbutton her shirt and sliding his hand beneath it to caress her breast.

Now it was Lilly's turn to gasp and she started to tug his pants and underwear down his muscular legs, she had never wanted him more than she did in that moment. "I want you" she gasped.

Pulled her underwear off and through it behind him and looked down at her "are you sure you wanna do this, I mean I don't wanna get you sick"

Lilly licked her lips "Get down here and make love to me"

Scotty chuckled "Yes Ma'am"

* * *

Scotty spent the rest of the week recovering in bed from his flu and by the following Sunday he was feeling so much better. And Lilly luckily didn't catch his flu or get sick in the slightest.

That was until one morning almost seven weeks later, Lilly woke up with a headache and nausea. She winced at the harsh light as Scotty turned on the bedside lamp. "Come on baby, time to get up. We don't wanna be late for church"

Lilly groaned and ran her hand over her face "I don't feel so good" she replied as she sat up "Oh crap" she bolted from the bed and ran into the bathroom, only just making it to the toilet.

"Lil, are you alright" he asked with concern, Lilly shook her head before throwing up again "I am gonna get you a glass of water"

Lilly sunk back down against the bathtub and closed her eyes, she sensed Scotty squatting down in front of her. She opened her eyes and took the glass of water he was holding out for her "Thanks" she whispered as she took it, wiping the cool glass across her forehead.

"Maybe you should stay home today; I can take Ma to church. Go see a doctor"

Lilly shook her head "No, it's probably just a bug or food poisoning"

"I don't think its food poisoning Querida, I feel fine"

Lilly sighed "Maybe I should just go to the chemist for something to stop the nausea, and get some sleep"

Scotty nodded and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead "ok, go back to bed and get some sleep. I'll see you when I get back from church"

Lilly nodded and Scotty helped her to her feet, Lilly moved back over to the bed and sank back into the warm mattress.

When she woke up again, it was 9 am and she expected to find Scotty home, but instead she had a text message on her phone.

_**Sorry Querida got called into work. There's been a break in the case and Manny's called in everyone. I'll try not to stay too long; I hope you feel better soon. I love you**. _

The text had come while she had been sleeping; she quickly sent a reply and sat up. She was hit with another wave of nausea and her headache felt even stronger. She got up and searched the bathroom cabinet for some aspirin but they were out. Scotty must have taken the last one last month when he had the flu. It meant that she was going to have to go up the pharmacy and pick up some more. While she was there she would see if they had something for this terrible nausea she was experiencing.

* * *

The bell jangled above the door as Lilly walked into the pharmacy and over to the counter "Can I help you?" The perky girl behind the counter asked brightly.

"Do you have anything for nausea?" Lilly asked.

The girl nodded "Uh-huh, second aisle ginger tablets are really helpful"

"Thanks" Lilly said and she headed over to the second aisle to pick up a few boxes.

She figured while she was here she might as well pick up a few things, toothpaste, floss, condoms and some tampons…wait hang on…she thought. "Oh no" she exclaimed. She fumbled through her bag and pulled out her diary, quickly flipping through the pages. Oh crap that could not be right.

* * *

Lindsay heard the continual pounding on her front door and groaned, dragging herself off the couch. All she wanted to do was relax on the couch and read her book. "Okay I am coming" she cried out in an annoyed voice "Stop knocking" She swung open the door and came face to face with her best friend "Lil, what are you doing here?"

"I am freaking out, I need to talk to someone" Lilly exclaimed.

"Freaking out about what, did something happen to Scotty? Did he do something?" Lindsay asked in a panic

"No, he's fine. He didn't do anything…well at least I don't think he did"

Lindsay stepped back and let Lilly into her house, shutting the door behind them. They sat down on the couch in the living room and Lindsay sighed "Lil, tell me what's going on"

Lilly took a deep breath "About a month ago, Scotty had the flu and he wanted to spend the night in the spare room but I got lonely. I went in there and we….." Lindsay held up her hand, not wanting to know the details "….anyway we didn't use anything for protection. We've done that before and nothing has happened but this morning I woke up and I feel sick and I just realised…I am three weeks late…..I think I am pregnant"

Lindsay tried to process what Lilly had just told her "Wow! You really think you're pregnant?"

"I don't know I bought a pregnancy test. I've been too afraid to take it"

Lindsay put a hand on Lilly's shoulder "Why don't you go take it now, and then if it's negative you can go see a doctor"

Lilly took a deep breath "okay" Lilly stood up and pulled out a pregnancy test from her bag and headed over to the bathroom.

Five minutes later the timer on Lilly's watch went off and she looked over at Lindsay "Here goes nothing" she said and she got up off the couch and walked back into the bathroom to check the test.

* * *

Scotty tugged loose his tie and opened the front door "I am home baby, sorry I am late" He called out.

"That's alright" Lilly replied as she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

"How you feeling?" he asked as he came over to her, raising a hand to her forehead to check if she was warm "You don't feel hot"

Lilly shook her head "I am fine, I don't have a stomach bug"

"Well that's good"

Lilly took his hand and led him over to the couch "Sit down I wanna talk to you"

"Ok" Scotty replied happily and he sat down beside his girlfriend "what's up"

Lilly sighed "I…I…"

"Lil, sweetheart what's wrong?"

"I am pregnant" she replied quickly.

Scotty, who had been holding her hand suddenly dropped it and stood up slowly. "Pregnant?"

Lilly nodded "Yes, pregnant"

Scotty couldn't wrap his brain around what his girlfriend had just told him "How, can you be pregnant?" he asked

"What do you mean how?" Lilly snapped

"I mean we always use protection, how can you have gotten pregnant"

Lilly scowled "There's been more than one time that we didn't use protection Scotty"

"No….no" He repeated "you're not pregnant, maybe it's just that flu"

Lilly shook her head and pulled out the positive pregnancy test from her handbag and held it out to him "It's not the flu Scotty" Lilly whispered "I am pregnant"

"We can't have a baby now"

"Well it's too late now Scotty, I am pregnant"

Scotty ran his hand over his face "Is it mine?" he asked viciously

"What are you talking about?"

"That Kite guy still sniffing around, or maybe Ray?"

Lilly felt the anger rising in her chest "First of all, I have never cheated on you." Lilly began "How dare you think that, Kite is engaged to an attorney in the DA's office and I haven't seen Ray in years. You're the father" She saw in his eyes that he didn't believe her "you're a bastard, I thought you'd be happy"

"You thought wrong"

Lilly felt tears stinging her eyes "Well I am keeping the baby, and if you don't want it….then I guess were over, so what do you say?" Scotty stared at the floor and Lilly felt she had her answer "Fine, I'll come and get my stuff when you're at work tomorrow"

She pushed past him and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Scotty waited a moment then decided that he should follow her; he swore, opened the front door and ran down the hallway to the stairs that lead parking garage.

He got there just in time to see her speeding out of the garage and down the street.

She was gone and he was too late.

* * *

A/N: The line to slap Scotty about the head starts behind me.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: All Alone In This World

It has been two weeks since Lilly had seen or heard from Scotty. He called several times over first week and she refused to take them but then he stopped calling all together, he had tried to see her at work or at Lindsay's place where she'd been staying, but Lilly had told Will, Nick, Chris, Stillman and Lindsay not to let him, that she didn't want to see him and eventually he stopped trying. He had obviously accepted that it was over and now Lilly was alone, she was pregnant and alone. She was going to be a single mother just like her own mother. She had no one, no one that was going to help her with the baby.

Was she crazy? She couldn't do this on her own; she didn't want to do this on her own. She had wanted Scotty to be thrilled when she told him that she was having his baby that he was going to be a daddy, something that he'd been telling her that he wanted to be since practically the moment they started to date.

But instead he yelled, he accused her of cheating, he let her walk away from them.

Every night for the past two weeks she'd cried herself to sleep. She missed him she was still in love with him. But she knew that she had to get over him. He didn't want to have a baby with her. God did had he ever really loved her to begin with, or was this just always sex to him.

He'd said all the right things; they'd done all the things that made her think that he did. But now she wasn't quite sure.

But what she did know for sure was that she was all alone in the world, just her and the baby.

* * *

Scotty didn't know where else to go, he couldn't go back to their apartment…..his apartment now….well until he sold it that is. He figured he's worn out his welcome at his brother's place. Mike had let him sleep on the couch for the last few weeks without asking why but he knew he couldn't stay there forever. He couldn't tell his mother that he and Lilly were over, and that she was pregnant. Rosa had asked him where Lilly was the past two Sundays and he'd lied, said she was swamped at work and couldn't come.

He knew that he had to tell them eventually but right now, he wasn't even sure why he'd let her leave. He was stupid, he loved her, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and now, not only, were they over she was also pregnant with his baby.

He needed to talk to someone, so he walked up the steps of the townhouse and knocked on the door.

An elderly Hispanic woman answered the door "Hey Maria, is Elisa home?"

Maria nodded "Upstairs, come in" Scotty stepped into the entryway and Maria shut the door "you know the way, are you going to stay for dinner?"

Scotty shook his head "No, I have somewhere else to be. I just needed to talk to El"

"Ok" Maria walked back into the kitchen and Scotty walked up the stairs and knocked on Elisa's bedroom door.

Elisa opened the door and was surprised to see Scotty standing there "Scotty" she exclaimed in surprise

"Hey" Scotty said softly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

"Sure" Elisa replied and she stood back to let him into her bedroom.

Scotty looked around the room as he took a seat on the edge of her bed, and chuckled "Remember the time I snuck up the drainpipe when we were 16"

Elisa chuckled "How could I forget, that was our…first time" she replied wistfully "you didn't come over here to reminisce did you?"

Scotty sighed "no" he started to pick at the skin around his thumb nail "Lil and I broke up"

"Oh Scotty, I am sorry" Elisa replied sincerely "What happened?"

"We had a fight"

"Can I ask what about?"

Scotty sighed and ran a hand through his hair "She found out she was pregnant and I freaked out, I yelled at her. Accused her of having an affair, she told me that she was keeping the baby and I had a choice to make….I didn't say anything so she left me"

"Oh Scotty"

"I screwed up another relationship El" Tears welled up in his eyes.

Elisa placed a comforting hand on his shoulder "You're not the reason that we broke up" she explained "I was sick, I am sick….I didn't want you to have to deal with that anymore. I wanted you to have a family, and when you met Lilly I was so happy for you, you love her Scotty. Even more than you loved me I think"

Scotty sniffed and tried to stop the tears from falling but he couldn't "I don't even know why I yelled at her, I love her and I wanted to have a baby with her. Why did I do that?"

"You were scared, that's understandable"

"But now she's not even talking to me, she won't take my calls or let me see her. How can I make it up to her, how can I tell her that I want a second chance?"

"What if I talked to her?" Elisa suggested

"No, don't" Scotty said "it's my problem, she's gotta forgive me some time. She's having my baby"

Elisa sighed "I am not so sure doing nothing is the best way to fix this"

Scotty stood up, wiping his nose with his sleeve "I have to go, just promise me you're not gonna do anything" Scotty pleaded

Elisa smiled "I hope it works out for you, I know how happy Lil makes you"

Scotty pressed a kiss to the top of her head and got off the bed "Thanks for listening El, glad we're still friends"

"We're always gonna be friends Scotty"

* * *

Lilly sat in the breakroom, as she filled out paperwork for their latest case, a large cup of ginger tea in front of her. She'd read that ginger tea helps with the nausea of morning sickness, but so far it wasn't helping.

"Hey Lil" Lilly looked over to the doorway and saw Nick Vera "there's some woman here to see you"

Lilly's brow furrowed in confusion she shuffled through the files in front of her "Did she say what she wanted?"

"She just wanted to talk to you in private, she said it was personal" Lilly sighed and stood up, taking her ginger tea with her "She wanted to talk to you privately so she's waiting in interview room A" Nick added

"Thanks Nick"

Lilly walked over to the interview room and opened the door, and too her surprise Scotty's ex-girlfriend was sitting down at the metal table.

"Elisa, what are you doing here?" She asked in surprise.

"I wanted to talk to you about Scotty" Lilly sighed and made to turn around "No please, don't go Lil"

"Look if he sent you here you can tell him I am still not ready to talk to him yet" She snapped

"No, he didn't send me here. In fact he actually asked me not to come and talk to you" Lilly walked back into the room and closed the door "Please sit down"

Lilly pulled out the seat opposite her and sank down into it "So, why did you come here Elisa?"

"Scotty told me that you are pregnant and that you two had a fight"

"That's an understatement" Lilly snapped.

Elisa smiled "He was upset, he feels really guilty about the way he spoke to you"

"He doesn't want the baby, its fine. I am perfect capable of raising the baby by myself"

Elisa shook her head "No, that's not it at all. I think he was just surprised is all"

"If he wanted the baby he wouldn't have let me leave, he wouldn't have accused me of cheating on him"

Elisa shook her head "Yeah, I didn't say he wasn't an idiot"

"If you came here to put in a good word for him I am really not interested in hearing it"

"No, I came here to see if you still loved him"

Lilly put a hand on her stomach and stared down at the table "Yes, I still love him. As much as I hate him right now...I love him"

"Good, then maybe you'll be willing to give him one more chance?"

"Elisa, I don't know…."

"Please, he's miserable. Just hear him out; if you decide after you talk to him that you still want to cut him out of your life then I'll back off" Elisa replied "But you are pregnant with his child, I think he deserves one more chance to make a first impression"

Lilly sighed again; she knew that Elisa was right. Despite the fact that she and Scotty were over, he did deserve to be in his child's life. She agreed to Elisa's plan to meet Scotty after work at Ramiro's Deli.

* * *

Scotty was still feeling miserable when he got Elisa's text, inviting him to meet her for dinner that night. She told him that although she was on shift at his father's deli he could sit at the counter and talk to her. She also hinted that it would be an opportunity to tell his father about the future grandchild.

Not that he was going to ever meet the child at this rate, he was never going to see Lilly again most likely.

He pushed open the door and found the normally bustling Deli was deserted "Dad? Elisa?" he called out as slid out of his jacket.

Ramiro emerged from the kitchen "Mi hijo, you're here"

"Hey dad, bit quite tonight, where is everyone?"

Ramiro smiled cryptically "I thought I would close for the night, you obviously missed the sign on the door on your way in" Scotty turned around and saw that the closed sign had indeed been turned around to face the street, there was also a note stuck to the door he could just make out what it said because of the permanent marker that his father had used bled through from the front

**_'Closed for a private party'_**

"What's going on Dad?"

"Why don't you sit down over there and I'll bring you something to eat" His father pointed to a high backed booth in the corner and shrugged, walking over to sit down. As he approached the booth he saw that it was already occupied by someone…..Lilly.

"Lil" he whispered'

"Hi" she answered

He sank down in the booth across from her "What are you doing here?"

"Elisa came to see me, she asked me to hear you out so here I am"

Scotty let out a wry laugh "I told her to leave you alone"

"I know, but she was very persuasive"

Scotty ran a hand over his hair "I am glad you're here Lil, I wanted to apologise" he replied "I was an idiot; the way I reacted…I am really sorry I accused you of cheating on me, I know that you would never have done that. I panicked"

Lilly smiled slightly "I know the feeling, I freaked out at first too" she admitted "but then I thought of how happy I thought it would make you and that made me really happy"

"I am sorry"

Lilly felt tears stinging her eyes "I know"

"I know that you probably don't love me anymore, but I hope that you'll still let me be a part of our baby's life"

Lilly reached over the table and put her hand on his "Of course you can"

"I know that I probably screwed up any chance of us being together again, but I just wanted you to know that I still love you. And if there is any chance that we could be….us again….I would like that"

Lilly sighed "I don't know Scotty, I don't know if I can ever trust you again"

Scotty nodded "Yeah, I get that"

"But I am willing to….try"

"Really?"

Lilly nodded "Yeah, I mean we are having a baby and I would like for us to try and make it work for the baby's sake"

"I'd love that" Scotty smiled at her

Lilly smiled back "But I want to take this slow, like we're starting from scratch. I think we moved so fast, moving in together and everything….so although I'll agree to move back into the apartment I'll stay in the spare room until I am sure that I can trust you won't hurt me again. Because it's not just me that I have to think about, it's the baby too"

Scotty sighed with relief, although it wasn't entirely what he wanted he was willing to take it slow if it meant that he could get her back eventually. "Okay Lil"

"I was wondering, I made an appointment with the doctor for a sonagram tomorrow, you wanna come"

"Yeah, I'd love too"

Lilly smiled at him and began to tell him the details he'd need to know for the Doctor's appointment.

* * *

A/n: they are back together...sort of. Until next time


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Miracles

Lilly sat down on the bed waiting for the doctor to come in and start the scan, Scotty was busying himself looking through a pregnancy book that was resting on the Doctor's desk. Lilly noticed Scotty's face contort in disgust and it peaked her curiosity "Find anything interesting?"

Scotty shook his head "I am just reading about labour, it says here…"

"Actually, you know what…I don't wanna know; I am the one that is going to go through it not you"

Scotty closed the book and tossed it back on the desk "Thank God" he said under his breath.

Lilly glowered at him and was about to say something when the door opened and tall, dark haired man walked into the room "Ms Rush" Lilly nodded "Hello, I am Dr Eric Palmer"

"I am Lilly Rush and this is Scotty Valens, the father"

Dr Palmer shook Scotty's hand and then Lilly's "Okay, you're here for your first sonogram?" Lilly nodded "Well you'll be pleased to know we got the results of your blood tests back and everything appears normal"

"That's good"

"So if you would like to step behind the partition and change into the gown, you can leave your bra on but you'll need to remove our underwear" Lilly took the gown from the doctor's outstretched hand and walked behind the curtain to change.

When Lilly returned he instructed her to hop up on the bed and put her feet in the stirrups "Scotty you can bring your chair up to the bed, you'll get a better angle of the screen" Scotty nodded and dragged his chair over to the bed "Now this may be a little uncomfortable, but just try and relax" Scotty watched in horror as the doctor picked up a probe-like device and lubricated it with some gel "can you just scoot your bottom down a little bit" Lilly did as she was instructed and the doctor draped a towel over the lower half of her body and switched on the monitor. Then he slipped the probe underneath the towel and Scotty saw Lilly wince "Sorry" Doctor Palmer replied apologetically "let's see what we have here" At Scotty's horrified reaction, Dr Palmer explained that a sonogram at this early stage was more accurate than an ultrasound, but it made Scotty squeamish.

Dr Palmer punched a few keys and a grainy image appeared on the screen, Scotty had no idea what he was looking at all he could see was a mix of grey and black sections on the screen. How in the hell did doctor's decipher all this. Dr Palmer hit another button and the screen froze "right there, you see that" he pointed a small blob "that's your baby and judging by the size it's about nine weeks along, I may be able to detect a heartbeat" he unfroze the screen and hit some more keys and the room was filled with a swishy, rhythmic sound.

"Is that the heartbeat?" Lilly asked in amazement and Dr Palmer nodded.

"Wow, ifast so fast" Scotty replied and he smiled broadly.

"Hang on" Dr Palmer suddenly said and he adjusted the probe.

"What's the problem?" Lilly asked, suddenly panicked.

"It's just I am picking up multiple heartbeats" he said a smile gracing his face.

"As in….more than one?" Scotty asked

"Three actually" he stared at the screen "yes" he froze the screen again "here and here" he pointed to two more blobs "It appears you're having triplets"

"Pardon" Lilly thought she couldn't have heard correctly

"Triplets, congratulations"

Scotty stared open mouthed at the screen and then looked over at Scotty "we're having three"

"That's….wow" Lilly and Scotty, stared blankly into space, this was a lot to take in.

Dr Palmer chuckled "I'll take a few screen shots for you; you can show your families"

* * *

After Lilly and Scotty recovered from the initial shock that they were having triplets, they headed over to Mike and Allie's place where they were having a family dinner. "I still can't believe we're having triplets, I thought they ran in families. I don't think there are triplets anywhere in my family tree" Scotty said

"I'd have no idea; I mean I don't exactly know my family"

"Ma's gonna be thrilled, three grandchildren in one go"

Lilly groaned "Yeah and I have to give birth three times"

Scotty put a hand on her arm "I am sorry"

Lilly shook her head "No, I am ok with it. I think"

Scotty chuckled "That's why God invented drugs"

"Definitely"

Scotty parked the car and turned off the engine "you ready?"

"As I'll ever be"

They walked up the path to the front door, Scotty instinctively reached out to take her hand but Lilly jerked it away. That's right, we're no longer together, he thought, but we will be one day.

Scotty rang the bell and they waited patiently for someone to come to the door. Allie opened the door, Emilio in her arms. Now eighteen months old, Emilio was just starting to talk and he shot Scotty a sunny smile "unky Scotty" he gurgled.

"Hey Em" Scotty replied and he ruffled his nephew's hair

Allie smiled at the exchange, Emilio was just as smitten with Scotty as Scotty was with Emilio "Hey you two, come on in" Allie stepped back to let them in.

Once she had shut the door, she lowered Emilio back down to the floor and he toddled off shakily on his own. "He's gotten so big" Lilly told Allie.

"Yeah, he's growing like a weed. You want a drink? Mike just opened a bottle of red"

Lilly shook her head "water's fine"

"Sure, Scotty?"

"I'll have a glass"

Allie nodded "Well Rosa and Ramiro are in the living room, why don't you take a seat. Dinner will be about twenty minutes"

Lilly and Scotty walked into the living room and were greeted by his parents.

They sat down on the couch and chatted with Scotty's parents As Scotty and Lilly waited patiently for Allie to call them to dinner. Lilly was nervous about telling Scotty's parents about the pregnancy. It wasn't that she worried that they wouldn't approve, it was more that she was worried that they weren't technically together anymore.

Allie called them to dinner a few minutes later and they moved into the dining room. Mike greeted them as he placed Emilio in his high chair beside his chair.

"So" Mike said as everyone sat down "What's this big news that Scotty told us you two had?"

Scotty looked over at Lilly who looked right back at him "Lil, you want me to tell 'em?"

Lilly took a deep breath "No, I will. I am pregnant"

Mike, Allie, Rosa and Ramiro's faces lit up and they all practically leapt across the table to hug and congratulate them "Oh, Mi hijo I am so happy for you" His mother gushed.

"Thanks Ma" Scotty replied "we're happy too"

"We had a doctor's appointment this morning, and we got some news"

"What kind of news?" Mike asked

Lilly looked over at Scotty, clearly wanting him to be the one to tell them "We're having…triplets"

"Triplets, really? Madre di Dios" Ramiro exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was a shock to us too" Lilly added "but it's true" She handed the sonogram photo to Rosa and pointed out the three distinct blobs to her.

"Oh Lilly, this is so amazing" Allie said as she looked at the photo for herself.

"To tell the truth I am a little nervous"

"It's understandable, I was a wreck when I found out I was pregnant with Emilio. And that was only one baby" Allie said and she smoothed Emilio's hair down.

* * *

For the rest of the evening, Rosa and Allie told Lilly pregnancy stories, while Mike, Scotty and Ramiro stood on the back porch smoking cigars.

"So when can we expect the wedding?" Ramiro asked between puffs of his cigar.

Scotty sighed "Well not anytime soon" Scotty admitted "we….kinda broke up"

Mike frowned "What do you mean you broke up?"

Scotty ran his free hand through his hair "When she first told me she was pregnant two weeks ago, I freaked out a little and we had a fight. She left me. The other night at Dad's, we agreed that we were going to try and make a relationship work, but she wanted to take it slow and to start from scratch. So we are technically not together at the moment"

Ramiro shook his head "you are lucky that she wanted to give you a second chance Scotty, don't mess it up again. Lilly has been good for you"

"I know Dad"

"Triplets" Mike exclaimed still in shock "you two are gonna have your hands full"

"No kidding" Scotty said with a chuckle.

"But I reckon you two can handle it" Mike encouraged

Scotty smiled "Really? You think I am going to be able to handle three babies at once?"

Ramiro smiled "Your mother and I will always be there to help the two of you out, whether you are together or not"

"Thanks Dad"

* * *

"So have you and Scotty thought of any names yet?" Allie asked as she bounced Emilio up and down on her knee.

Lilly shook her head "We really haven't talked about it"

Rosa frowned "But you said you were 9 weeks along, surely you too have discussed something about the pregnancy"

Lilly sighed she was going to have to tell them the truth "Scotty and I, we're not a couple anymore. We broke up"

Allie's eyes widened "Really?"

"Yeah, we had a fight when I first found out I was pregnant. I moved out but after last week we have sort of patched things up. I am back at the apartment but we are sleeping in separate rooms, I need to make sure I can….trust him again before I commit to anything long term"

"Do I need to go out there and slap my stupid brother in law in the back of the head?"

Lilly chuckled "No, he's apologised to me. I think…that maybe someday. I just want to do what's best for the babies and I know that means having their father in their lives. But I need to be sure I can have him in my life"

Rosa placed a hand on her shoulder "Lilly, whatever you decide. Whether you and Scotty are together or not, you are part of this family and your welcome here anytime"

"Thank you Rosa, that means a lot to me"

They drove back home in silence that night, Lilly looked across at Scotty as he drove. Could she ever get back what they had? Or would she only every see him in matters regarding their children?

She didn't know at this point.

* * *

Lilly sat in the couch reading up on pregnancy, she was determined to know as much as she could, especially on multiple births. She didn't want anything to take her by surprise.

For the past three weeks she and Scotty had been trying to see if they could make their relationship work again.

They had set down some ground rules that they had agreed on so they knew where they both stood.

1) No kissing, it wasn't that she didn't want to kiss him it was that kissing lead to other things like sex which would only cloud her emotions and Lilly really needed to see if there was still anything there.

2) No Sex, again for the same reasons.

3) They would at least have one date a week, where they would go somewhere nice and talk about anything. Either about the pregnancy or work or whatever was on their minds at the time.

4) They were to sleep in separate bedrooms, Scotty took the spare room so Lilly could have access to the en-suite bathroom that was attached to the master bedroom, her morning sickness wasn't easing at all.

Scotty was trying to respect Lilly's ground rules but he really wanted her to be his girlfriend again. More than that he wanted to ask her to marry him. But he knew that if he did he'd ruin any chance of ever getting back together.

"Lil?" Lilly looked over at Scotty and smiled

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, for our date night this week, if you wanted to recreate our first date?"

Lilly thought for a few moments "you mean at that little Cuban restaurant?" Scotty nodded. "Yeah, why not. That sounds like fun"

"Perfect" Scotty replied "I'll make the reservations for tomorrow" He stepped back into the kitchen.

"Scotty?"

He stuck his head back into the living room "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for everything these past three weeks, I really appreciate all that you're doing to make me comfortable here"

"It's not a problem Lil; it's the least I can do"

* * *

a/n: Hmmmm, I think Scotty is up to something.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Starting Over Yet Again

Scotty had a plan, he was going to show Lilly exactly why she fell in love with him in the first place. So that meant he was going to recreate their best dates.

Their first date

Their second date, were Lilly had kicked his ass at miniature golf

And lastly their one month anniversary picnic on the roof.

He was going to make her fall for him again and this time, he wasn't going to screw up.

He decided that he was going to recreate everything as much as possible and considering they now lived in the same apartment, Scotty was going to pick her up….at her bedroom door. So while she was in the shower, he hurried down to the same flower shop on the corner that he'd bought the first bunch of flowers from and returned to the apartment as quick as he could.

When came back home, he walked over to her bedroom door and knocked.

"Come in" Lilly called as she heard the knock on her bedroom door, nothing. She sighed and walked over to the door and opened it.

Scotty stood in the doorway, wearing the same suit he'd worn on that first date. In his hand was a bunch of red roses.

"I am here to pick you up for our date" he said casually.

"You're picking me up…from my bedroom?" she asked curiously

"Just trying to make it as real as possible" he countered.

Lilly couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as she took the flowers from him "Their beautiful" she whispered.

She brushed past him and entered the kitchen to fill a vase.

"You almost ready to go?" Scotty asked softly

Lilly nodded as she set the vase down on the kitchen table "Let's go"

* * *

Scotty and Lilly had an amazing time; they even ordered the same things as they did on their first date, minus the alcohol of course. Lilly could tell that Scotty was trying his best to show her a good time and she really appreciated it.

"I thought it was cute that you picked me up at the bedroom" Lilly said as they walked into the living room and Scotty grinned

"I was hoping to walk you back to your door too"

Lilly nodded and slid her arm around Scotty's. He chuckled and led her over to her bedroom. "Well, here we are"

Lilly looked over at her front door and then back at him "I had had a really nice time tonight" she said softly

"You sound surprised" Scotty asked

Lilly chuckled when she realised that he was saying the same thing as he did after their first date and decided she'd play along "Well to be honest I didn't think I would, but I did"

"I had a nice time too" Scotty grinned, so far so good "So could I call you ask you out again?"

Lilly grinned "I'd like that" Lilly opened her bedroom door "well goodnight"

"Goodnight" Lilly leaned forward a press a quick kiss to his lips. "I thought that was against our rules" Scotty asked in an amused tone.

"I didn't break the rules, I merely….bent them"

"Well I hope we can bend them again soon"

Lilly smiled "Goodnight" she said again and she walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Scotty sighed happily and walked towards his bedroom, their first date recreation was a success

* * *

For their second date, Scotty had called Lilly up and asked her out…..so this is how he planned to ask her out for their second, second date. Lilly heard her phone ringing and picked it up from her desk, not even checking the caller ID.

"Rush"

"I was thinking since last night went so well, what would you say to another recreation?"

Lilly smiled, he was calling her just like he had the first time "You want me to kick your butt at golf again, could use fifty bucks"

"I'll take that as a yes then" Scotty replied happily "I'll pick you up at 7 outside your bedroom again"

"Can't wait"

Scotty picked her up right at 7 like he'd promised and he took her to the same miniature golf place. And just like before, Lilly kicked his ass. Although like before Lilly had a feeling he was letting her win.

After their game, Scotty took her get a cheeseburger because she told him she had a sudden craving.

"Scotty, can I ask you something?" Lilly asked as she dipped one of her fries in sauce and popped it in her mouth.

"Sure, go ahead" he answered as he took a large swig of his soda.

"On our five month check up, the doctor said we could find out the sex of the babies, I wanted to know if you want to keep it a surprise or did you want to know now?"

Scotty considered her question for a few moments and sighed "I don't know what do you want?"

Lilly shrugged "I was thinking that we should…find out. So we could start thinking about names and things"

Scotty smiled "Yeah, I'd like that" he said softly "I can't believe it, we are gonna be parents. So what do you want boys or girls?"

Lilly put a hand on her abdomen "I was hoping for a girl, I don't know I always had a fantasy of having a little girl of my own. I suppose you want boys?"

Scotty chuckled "When Elisa and I were together and I pictured us having children I could see us, in the backyard with our sons, playing catch or football."

"You're gonna make a great father Scotty"

"Thanks, I think you're gonna make a great Mum"

Lilly shook her head "I know I didn't have the best example with my Mum, but after spending time with your mum" Lilly shrugged "I don't know, I think I could do this"

"Course you could, you can do anything"

He walked her again to her bedroom door and as he looked down into her eyes he had never felt surer than he did in that moment. He lowered his head and kissed her "I figured if you get to bend the rules" he whispered as they broke away "So do I"

Lilly's eyes slowly fluttered open "Goodnight Scotty" Lilly whispered.

"Goodnight Lil"

He walked across the hall to the spare bedroom and closed the door, Lilly considered briefly knocking on the door and joining him in bed. But she knew that was just the hormones talking. She needed more than just a hormone rush; she needed love, a forever type of love.

She closed her bedroom door and sunk down on the bed, Olivia jumped out on the bed beside her. Lilly ran her hands over the cats orange fur and pulled her into her arms "what do you think Livy" Lilly asked her cat softly "Should I give him one more chance?" Olivia purred happily and curled up next to her and fell asleep.

Lilly chuckled softly "thanks for the advice" She replied and she lay her head down on the pillows and closed her eyes.

* * *

Scotty was going for one last romantic gesture, he loved her and missed being able to tell her every day, missed falling asleep beside her and waking up next to her, missed making love to her. He missed her. Even though they were living in the same apartment it was still like they were living far apart.

By far their most romantic date would have to be when they had a picnic on his roof. That was also the night they had the most fantastic sex of his life. Although he couldn't expect that the sex part of the date could be recreated at least he recreate the romantic picnic part.

It was Saturday and he told Lilly he was going for a run, but in reality he was visiting his neighbours again. To ask them to give him some privacy and above all not to mention anything to Lilly if they saw her.

Lilly looked up from the couch as Scotty walked back in an hour later "Hey" she said warmly "Why do you look so happy?"

Scotty grinned "I have a surprise for you" He said brightly.

"That sounds ominous" Lilly answered with a raised eyebrow.

Scotty chuckled "No it's a good surprise"

"Okay then" Lilly replied "So when do I get this surprise?"

"All in good time Querida" he said as he walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

He hadn't called her that in a long time, and she'd had to admit it felt good for him to say that to her again. Lilly sighed and tried to think about what kind of surprise he could have planned for her.

An hour later, when Scotty emerged from the spare bedroom carrying a scarf in his hands, it suddenly clicked for her what his surprise was. She smiled at him as he directed her to turn around slid the soft material over her eyes.

He hoisted her into his arms and Lilly giggled "Are you sure I am not too heavy now?" Lilly asked

"Nah, you're as light as a feather" He said as they began to move out of the apartment.

When he lowered her to the ground and removed her blindfold, Lilly was overwhelmed by what she saw. He'd gone all out. It was even better than the first time. "I'll admit I had a little help with the decorations this time" Scotty replied "When I told Mrs Wallace downstairs what I was doing she insisted that she help, she wanted it to be romantic and so I let her decorate as I got the food ready"

"She did a good job" Lilly whispered, looking around the roof "It's beautiful"

"Not as beautiful as you Querida"

Lilly smiled "I like that you're calling me that again"

Scotty brushed a lock of hair away from her face "I do love you Lil"

"I love you too Scotty"

"I know that you don't want to rush things but I needed you to know that"

Lilly took his hand and they walked over to the picnic blanket "Did you get the food from your Dad's deli again?"

"I was trying to replicate everything"

Lilly lay down on her side next to Scotty and she pushed her fingers through his hair "I do care about you Scotty" Lilly said "And I know I said this before but I do appreciate that your willing to take things slow"

"I know"

Lilly licked her lips and leaned in closer "But I realised something today"

"What?" Scotty asked, his breathing increasing rapidly.

"That I was stupid to wait, I do love you and I want to be with you. I want our babies to be with you all the time, I want to try again"

Scotty smiled broadly "Are you sure?"

Lilly leaned in and kissed him and she draped her leg over his hip, bringing their bodies closer together "I am sure that I have never been this….horny in my entire life"

Scotty chuckled "Should we go back to the apartment?"

Lilly looked around the roof top again "Why waste a beautifully decorated roof"

Scotty laughed again "Are you saying that you wanna do it on the roof?"

Lilly answered by unbuckling his belt and pulling his shirt out from his jeans.

* * *

They had been back together officially for the past two months now Lilly was so happy, she loved waking up in the morning in his arms. She loved curling up with him at night. And she couldn't explain it, maybe it was the pregnancy but the sex was even better than it had been before. Today was their 5 month scan and Lilly and Scotty had decided that they were ready to find out the sexes of their three children.

She sat nervously on the edge of the bed, rubbing were slightly swollen tummy.

Dr Palmer walked in and he greeted them warmly "I hear that you've finally made a decision on whether or not you want to find out the sexes"

Lilly nodded "Yeah, we wanna know"

"Okay then, well you know the drill. Lie down and we'll get started"

Lilly lay back and lifted the gown revealing her abdomen, Dr Palmer squirted the cold gel on her tummy and put the probe on the stomach. The familiar grainy image appeared on the screen and Scotty this time could immediately make out his babies. "Alright, baby one" he said "Legs, arms and head have formed normally now if I can get a better angle….." He shifted the probe "…ah there, baby one is a girl" Lilly felt Scotty squeezing her hand. "A girl Scotty, we have a girl" Scotty pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I...we have a daughter" He said proudly.

"Congratulations" Dr Palmer said "let's check out baby number two" He moved the probe up her abdomen just under her ribs "Baby two, also looks healthy" He added, nodding re-assuring the expectant parents, who sighed with relief "Baby two is…a boy"

Lilly looked up into her boyfriend's eyes and she could see tears of pride welling in them "we have a daughter and a son" Lilly's free hand caressed his cheek "What about the last baby?" Lilly asked turning to Dr Palmer

"Baby three" He said happily, clearly he was as happy as Lilly and Scotty about discovering the sexes.

He had told them earlier that he had only recently become an OBGYN and although he had delivered over 100 babies so far, this was his first multiple births. Scotty wanted her to change doctors to someone more experienced but Lilly was willing to give Dr Palmer a chance, and considering how she was carrying the triplets, she told him it was her decision. Scotty really couldn't argue with that.

"Baby three looks great" he said pointing to the screen and Scotty kissed Lilly's hand "And Baby three is…another boy"

"Two boys and a girl" Lilly said proudly "wow"

"It's strange you know finding out about the sexes makes it feel real" Scotty said in awe

"That's what a lot of parents say Scotty, but now that you know you can start thinking about names"

Lilly nodded feeling tears rolling down her cheeks.

Dr Palmer handed her a tissue and then wiped the excess gel of her stomach "Okay guys, I will see you in a months' time. But come back sooner if you're concerned at all"

"Thanks Dr Palmer" Scotty said as he helped Lilly sit up.

"You're welcome you two, I'll let you get changed" He picked up her file and walked out of the room.

"I suppose we should go tell your family the good news"

* * *

Scotty and Lilly lay in bed that night, a book of baby names open in Lilly's lap.

"How about Sam, for one of the boys?" Lilly asked

Scotty shook his head "No, I was thinking maybe Victoria?"

Lilly shook her head "This is hard" Lilly said

"I know"

They sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating what they wanted to call their children.

"Scotty, I've been thinking"

"'Bout what?"

"I want the babies to have Spanish names too, to reflect part of their heritage"

Scotty's face lit up "Really?"

"Yeah, I'd like that"

"Me too"

Scotty leaned over and kissed her gently "hey how about Matthew for one of the boy's name"

"I like name" Lilly replied happily "So now we need a Spanish name to go with Matthew"

Scotty took her hand "Can we name him after my Grandfather, Luis?"

Lilly smiled at him "Matthew Luis Valens" she said softly "I like it"

"Me too"

"One down two to go" Scotty said and he pressed a kiss to her abdomen, right above where one of his boys was.

Twenty minutes of debating later they had chosen their two other babies names, Laura Teresa and James Alejandro.

"This is amazing" Lilly replied as she rested her head on his chest.

"I know" Scotty rested his hand on her abdomen enjoying the feeling of the babies moving around her uterus.

"Our babies" Lilly said as she closed her eyes.

"Our babies" Scotty repeated "Lil, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

"I know that I probably don't have any right asking you this, but it's important to me"

Lilly lifted her head off his chest "What's wrong Scotty?"

Scotty sighed "I wanted to get the babies baptised, and raise them catholic"

Lilly frowned "Why do you think I'd have a problem with that?"

Scotty shrugged "I assumed after the way I reacted when I found out about the babies that you wouldn't…." He trailed off

"Scotty, I forgave you for that, we are back together"

"I know but…"

"No buts, I know that your religion is important to you, and especially to your mother. Of course I want you to pass that on to our children"

Scotty smiled "Really, it's okay with you?"  
Lilly nodded and leaned in to kiss him gently on the lips "Yes, it's fine. I love you"

Scotty chuckled "I love you too Lil; and I love you guys too" he added as he lowered his head to kiss her slightly swollen stomach.

Lilly sighed contentedly and snuggled back against him "besides, I kinda got used to going to church. I like it"

Scotty pressed another kiss to the top of her head "I am glad"

Lilly closed her eyes and allowed the even rhythm of his heart to lull her to sleep, with Scotty right behind her.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: This is the last chapter, set three months on from last chapter.

Chapter 17: Now That's Romantic

Lilly walked slowly into the living room, her humongous belly making it difficult to move very fast "Scotty, what time did you say this baby shower was?" She called out.

Scotty came into the living room from the kitchen "8pm" He said and he came over to her to help ease her down on the couch.

Lilly winced "Mathew has the hiccups again and James keeps kicking my bladder" Lilly said softly.

Scotty squatted down "You boys cut it out, give mummy a break" he announced to her belly.

Lilly giggled "Laura is being an angel as always" Lilly said rubbing her bump lovingly.

"My princesa" Scotty murmured and he kissed her belly. Lilly sighed happily and ran her and through Scotty's hair. "I know that you've been tired lately but I want to take you somewhere before we go to the baby shower."

"Where?" Lilly asked

"I am not telling you that" Scotty said "But we have to go now"

Lilly looked down at her watch "But its only 4pm"

"I know" Scotty replied and he stood up, holding out his hands to her.

She sighed and took his hands, hauling herself to her feet.

* * *

Scotty escorted a blindfolded Lilly out of the car and across the sidewalk, guiding her carefully and ignoring the strange looks that other pedestrians were giving them. "Scotty, where are we?" Lilly asked for the tenth time.

"Just trust me baby" Scotty whispered.

Lilly groaned "Your daddy's a very strange man" Lilly muttered rubbing her stomach.

"Don't say that" Scotty said teasingly "They might not know you're kidding"

They reached their destination and Scotty pushed open the door, helping Lilly step over the threshold and down a small set of stair "Ok, step this way" He said softly.

"Can I take this blindfold off yet?"

"Not just yet, almost. Okay sit down here" Lilly felt a tall stool behind her and Scotty helped her into it. "Alright, one, two, three" He pulled off her blindfold.

Lilly found herself sitting in Jones Tavern "Err baby, do we need to have the 'what constitutes romance' talk again?" she asked looked at Scotty as though he was growing extra heads "Candlelit dinner, romantic….Cheesesteak and cheese whizz, not romantic. A dozen roses, romantic…a dingy bar in the middle of the afternoon, not romantic"

Scotty shook his head and took her hand in his "Two years, seven months, three weeks, four days ago" he began "I was sitting over there at that very table" looked over to where he was pointing and then back to him "and I spotted this beautiful woman sitting right here" Lilly smiled at him "Then she moved and I saw you" he teased, Lilly scowled and socked Scotty in the arm "Oww, I was kiddin'" he said through his laughter.

"I may be 1000 months pregnant but I can still kick your ass Valens"

"I am sure you could, anyway as I was saying I saw the most beautiful woman sitting in this very stool" Scotty sighed wistfully "Do you remember the first time I told you I loved you?" Lilly nodded "It was just after that dinner with my family"

"I remember"

"Well it may have been the first time I said it but it wasn't the first time I felt it" Scotty said "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you and I became the luckiest man in the world when you fell in love with me too"

"I do love you Scotty, and I think it's very romantic that you remembered the day we met"

"So I earned myself some brownie points did I?"

"Uh-huh"

"Well I got Jones to rent me the bar for the afternoon so I could show you how much I love you"

"That's sweet"

Scotty held up his hand, indicating for her to stay where she was and hurried over to the jukebox. After a few seconds a song began to play 'You look wonderful tonight' by Eric Clapton. Lilly couldn't believe Scotty remembered that this was one of her favourite songs "Wanna dance?"

Lilly frowned slightly "I don't know Scotty"

"Come on Querida, one dance"

Lilly relented and allowed Scotty to help her back to her feet and over to the empty space that Jones had obviously cleared for them. They swayed on the spot and Lilly rested her head against his shoulder "I changed my mind, this is romantic" Lilly whispered.

"It's about to get better" Scotty replied and he twirled Lilly out and when she turned back around, Scotty was down on one knee.

"Oh God Scotty" Lilly whispered.

"I should have done this a long time ago but I wanted it to be perfect" Scotty said happily "I got my Abuela's ring and I wanted the place I proposed to you to be perfect and I thought what's more perfect than the place we met."

"Oh Scotty"

"So, Lilly Rush….will you make me the happiest man in the world, again…. and become my wife?"

Lilly let out a breath she'd been holding, and tears of joy stung her eyes "Yes" she said in a choked voice "Yes I'll marry you"

Scotty grinned and got up off his knee, pulling her into a kiss.

"I love you" He muttered between kisses.

"I love you too"

"I know the rings a little small right now, but I got this chain you can wear it on until…"

"Until my fingers aren't as fat?" Lilly finished his sentence.

"I wasn't going to put it like that, but yeah"

Lilly took the ring from him and looked it at it, twirling it in her fingers "It's really beautiful"

"I was hoping you'd like it" Scotty whispered.

A sharp cramp felt like a punch in her gut and Lilly winched "Ouch" Lilly cried

"Are you ok Lil?"

"I don't know, I have a sharp pain in my stomach" Lilly replied.

"You wanna sit down?"

"No" Lilly said "I am alright"

But no sooner had she said that then another cramp hit her "Lil, I am gonna get you to the hospital" Scotty announced "I think that this might be contractions"

Lilly shook her head "I am only at 32 weeks" Lilly muttered, groaning loudly as another sharp stab of pain washed over her.

"You know that Dr Palmer said that with multiples, 32 weeks is normal" Lilly shook her head again "can you at least let me drive you to the hospital to get checked out, please?"

Lilly sighed and nodded "Fine"

"Thank you" Scotty replied and he pressed a kiss to the side of her head and hurried them out of the bar, calling out a thanks to Joe Jones on their way out.

* * *

Dr Palmer walked down the hallway of Philadelphia County Hospital towards room 401; he picked up the chart at the nurses' station and then strolled into the room.

"Lilly, Scotty what are you doing to me, I was this close to the end of my shift" he teased as he approached the bed.

"Scotty thought I was going into labour" Lilly grumbled

Scotty rolled his eyes "So sue me for caring about you" He snapped

Dr Palmer chuckled "Well….." He replied as he thumbed through the chart in his hand "…Scotty is right" Lilly groaned and Scotty chuckled smugly. "I am gonna go ahead and book an OR for a C-Section"

Lilly shook her head "I thought you said I could deliver naturally"

Dr Palmer put a hand on her shoulder "Lilly we talked about this at your last scan, its too risky to deliver triplets naturally. There's the risk of the babies getting tangled in each other's umbilical cords, or one of the placentas tearing. It's much safe for you and the babies to have a C-section"

Lilly groaned "But it's too early"

"We are giving you some medicine to help mature the babies' lungs and we have the NICU ready just in case but the survival rate for preterm babies at 32 weeks is very high, the babies are in good hands"

Scotty put his hand on his fiancé shoulder "It's gonna be okay Lil"

Dr Palmer nodded "I'll go and book the OR now and in less than an hour, you guys are gonna be parents" He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Scotty to try and calm with panicking fiancé down.

* * *

Lilly was wheeled into the OR twenty minutes later, feeling very frightened. Scotty had been taken away so he could wash his hands and get put in a gown. There were so many people in the operating room and Lilly felt like she was having a panic attack.

"Calm down Lilly" Dr Palmer said gently "It's going to be alright, all these people are here to help you and the babies"

Lilly nodded and took a few deep steadying breaths. The doors swung open again and Lilly almost laughed as Scotty was shown in wearing a hospital cap, gown and mask. "You better not be laughing at me Lil" Scotty teased as a nurse wheeled a stool over for him to sit down next to her.

"I am glad you're here" Lilly whispered.

Scotty took her hand on kissed it "Where else would I be Querida"

Lilly took a deep breath and watched the nurses and doctors draping her belly and preparing her for the C-section. A nurse pulled up a drape to block her view from her belly. "I am going to give you something to numb you for the surgery but you'll be awake the whole time alright" The nurse said kindly.

Lilly nodded and took another deep breath, feeling immediately numb once the drugs had been injected. Dr Palmer walked into the OR again.

"The epidural on board?" He asked one of the nurses and she nodded. "Alright Lilly" he moved over the table "Can you feel this?" he asked

"Feel what, Oh I guess not" Lilly answered

"Then let's get stated"

It didn't take too long for the sound of a baby's crying to fill the room "It's a boy" Dr Palmer announced.

"He looks beautiful" Scotty replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Really? He's okay?"

Dr Palmer nodded "want to cut his cord daddy?" He asked and Scotty nodded.

"Yes" The nurse directed Scotty with the scissors and he cut the umbilical cord.

"Can I see him?" Lilly asked

"Sure" The nurse said and she brought him closer for Lilly to see.

"Hey there Matthew" Lilly whispered, lifting her hand to touch her son's tiny cheek. The nurse took the baby away from the table and Dr Palmer spoke calmly "She's just gonna get him cleaned up, then he has to go up to the NICU for observation, but he looks great" He reassured her calmly. "You ready for baby two?"

"Yeah Doc, we are" Scotty took Lilly's hand once more and pressed a kiss to her forehead "You're doing great Querida"

"Baby number two, is…..another boy" Dr Palmer replied and more cries could be heard "Want to cut this cord too, Scotty?"

Scotty looked over at Lilly who nodded and Scotty dropped her hand and took the pair of scissors once again, cutting his second son's cord.

"Is James alright too?"

"He looks good Lil" Scotty replied comfortingly.

Lilly caught a quick glimpse of her son as she was taken over to one of the plastic cots in the corner, and she had the overwhelming need to hold them. "Let's just get out your little girl. The sooner you do the sooner we can get you into recovery and you can meet them properly."

Lilly nodded.

"And here is baby three, a beautiful little girl"

"She's got blonde hair Lil" Scotty said as he watched Dr Palmer cradle the baby as the nurse clamped the umbilical cord. Scotty cut the final cord and the nurse transferred her into his arms "She's so beautiful Lil" Scotty said in a choked voice and he lowered her down to see her only daughter.

"She's so little"

"Its normal for one baby to be smaller than the others, I am sure she's perfectly healthy" Dr Palmer replied.

Scotty followed the nurse over to the last plastic cot and lowered his precious daughter down into it "I am gonna take extra special care of you princesa" Scotty whispered softly to his daughter.

"Ok were gonna take them upstairs now, and get them checked over" A nurse said kindly.

Scotty nodded and walked back over to Lilly "There really okay?"

Scotty smiled and kissed her forehead "Yeah, we're parents Lil"

"I know" Lilly whispered "I feel so tired"

Scotty smiled "I know, you did good baby, get some sleep"

* * *

When Lilly next opened her eyes she was back in her private room. She felt as though she'd been beaten up and put back together. She was in pain and she groaned.

"Baby?" Scotty's face appeared above her and she smiled "are you in pain?" Lilly nodded "Here, squeeze this" he said holding up small box with a button on it attached to the IV "it's some pain relief"

Lilly pressed the button and she felt the pain ebbing away. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked softly.

"A few hours" Scotty replied, gently running his hand over the top of her head.

"What about the babies?" Lilly asked in a panic.

Scotty grinned "They're fine, healthy. Dr Palmer said that they can bring them down when you're awake. I'll go let the nurse know"

* * *

Lilly had never been more nervous in her entirely life, she was about to meet her children, her three children. Scotty paced back and forth nervously. His parents, Mike and Allie were on their way to meet the new editions to the family and he hadn't even really held his children yet.

The door opened and three nurses came in wheeling the three plastic cots and Scotty helped Lilly sat up in bed. One of the nurses lifted a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket, a beanie of a matching colour on his head "Here's one of your son's" The nurse said as she placed the baby into Scotty's arms "Hey there buddy" Scotty whispered looking down into the brown eyes of his son, Matthew yawned his tiny nose scrunching up. Scotty moved over to Lilly and lowered her down into her arms.

"Hey Mattie" Lilly whispered "He looks just like you Scotty"

"And this must be James then" Another nurse said as she handed over the second baby, he looked almost identical to Matthew apart from one little brown freckle on the tip of his nose, James was sucking on his tiny thumb just like he'd done in utero. Scotty pressed a kiss to the baby's cheek and then placed him down in Lilly's other arm.

"Lastly your beautiful daughter" Scotty took his little girl from the nurse and looked down at her, if his sons looked exactly like him then his daughter was a duplicate of Lil, her eyes opened and she looked up at her father with the most piercing blue eyes he'd ever seen.

"Just so you know" he said looking down at Laura lovingly "I am not lettin' boys near you till you're at least 50"

Lilly chuckled at how protective Scotty already was over his only daughter.

"I don't see that happening sweetie" Lilly said to her future husband and sat down on the edge of the bed with their daughter.

Scotty sighed contentedly "Thanks Lil"

"For what?" Lilly asked tearing her eyes away from her children.

"For them, for…agreeing to marry me…for giving me the family I've always wanted"

Lilly grinned "You're welcome" Scotty carefully leaned over and kissed her lightly "I love you"

"I love you too Querida" Scotty replied softly and he turned his attention back to his little girl.

A feeling of wellbeing washed over the new family as Lilly and Scotty looked down at their triplets, neither of them could fathom just how quickly they had fallen in love with their children. Lilly, Scotty and the triplets were a family now and neither one of them was happier than they had in that moment.

A/n: Last Chapter is up next and I am working on a sequel.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Last chapter, firstly i would like to thank everyone that reviewed, Alerted and or Favorited this story. Really makes me happy that you guys liked this story. I am currently working on a sequel but with so many ideas in my head it may or may not turn into a trilogy. so look out for Our Lives Together coming later this year.

Chapter 18: It's a Nice Day For A White Wedding

Raising triplets was harder than either Scotty or Lilly had thought. Because there was three of them, Dr Palmer had suggested that she express and then bottle feed to make it easier on her and Scotty to feed them at the same time. With Lilly being on maternity leave until the babies were 7 months old, Scotty decided to cash in all his leave and took 3 months off to help her out.

Even at such young ages, each of the three babies had their own distinct personalities.

Mathew always had to be moving, he'd screamed the place down unless he was in his swinging chair or pushed in the pram of bounced by either Lilly or Scotty.

James always fell asleep sucking his thumb, Lilly tried to get him to suck on a pacifier but he kept spitting it out and going back to his thumb.

And Little Laura, loved to watch people. She hated it when Lilly or Scotty put her down in her pram when there were people over, she loved sitting in one of her parent's laps and observing people. Scotty joked that she was developing her detective skills very early, learning to read people just as well as her mother.

They were so busy raising their little ones that they barely noticed that three years had gone by.

Lilly and Scotty had talked about getting married, they'd been engaged for so long but the timing never seemed right. It wasn't like they could pawn the triplets off on a relative and go on a honeymoon so they kept putting it off.

* * *

Lilly was thumbing through a file folder when Scotty came into their bedroom a triumphant look on his face.

"You finally get them to sleep?" Lilly asked "In under an hour? Impressive"

Scotty just grinned at her and started getting undressed "its 8 o'clock, the triplets are asleep, and I am not exhausted for the first time in months"

Lilly closed the file and placed it down on the bedside table "So?" Scotty stripped of his boxers and slid into bed beside her, and started to trail kisses over she shoulder. "Oh" Lilly replied in realisation.

"We haven't made love in over a month Lil, what do you say about…..." He trailed off and his hand slid underneath the covers and touched her. Lilly gasped and rolled on her side to face him, leaning in to kiss him. They were just getting heated up when they heard Mathew screaming.

Scotty sighed "you want me to go?"

"No, I'll go, I am still…..clothed"

Scotty chuckled and rolled on his back "Well hurry up and get back in here"

Matthew's emergency was that he had woken up and couldn't find his stuffed purple hippo; Lilly had to search for a good five minutes before she found it in James's crib. Once the three of them were settled she headed back into the bedroom. "Minor crisis, all resolved now" she said as she closed the door, she looked up and saw Scotty, thumbing through the folder Lilly had been perusing before "What are you doing?" She asked in horror.

"I was just seeing what you were working on….I thought it was that cold case that you said that you re-opened" Scotty put it down on the bed "What is all this?" Lilly swallowed thickly.

For the last few years Lilly had been hiding something from Scotty, in a file folder next to her bed Lilly had been keeping in the file, wedding ideas, clippings from magazines of dresses she wanted and reception halls and churches she wanted to use. She'd been afraid of telling Scotty because she didn't want him to think she was pressuring him into getting married.

"It's nothing, really"

"Lil, it looks like wedding stuff"

Lilly sighed and sank down on the bed "I am sorry, I should have told you"

"Why didn't you?"

Lilly shrugged "I don't know"

Scotty closed the file and put it back where he got it from, Lilly watched as he moved to his side of the bed and pulled out a notepad from his bedside drawer and handed it to her. Lilly looked at him in confusion and then down at the pad, she flipped it open and looked through it.

It would seem that Scotty too had been secretly planning their wedding as well. "I have been jottin' down some ideas, including some vows"

"How long have you been keeping this?" She asked him

Scotty shrugged "About three years"

"That's how long I have been keeping my file"

Scotty's chuckle turned into a full throated laugh and Lilly joined him "I can't believe it that we haven't told each other about this before, I mean look at this stuff" Scotty gestured to her file and his notepad "We've been practically planning are wedding by ourselves without the other knowing."

"I know it's stupid"

"I just thought that you wouldn't want to get married while the triplets were so little, that you didn't wanna leave them" Scotty said

"I always assumed that you wanted to wait, that you'd set a date when you were ready"

"Well how 'bout we set a date now then, get married this year"

Lilly grinned "I'd like that"

Scotty kissed her "Are the kids asleep?" he asked softly, Lilly nodded "Then let's celebrate our decision"

Lilly pounced on him, pushing him back against the pillows.

* * *

In just over two months Lilly and Scotty had planned their entire wedding and here she stood. In Allie and Mike's bedroom, looking at herself, in the full length mirror, in the long white dress, waiting to go to the church to marry the man she loved. She heard a knock on the door and she turned "Come in"

The door opened and Allie and Lindsay walked in, Lindsay carrying Laura in a small white dress white pink roses around the hem and Allie carrying Matthew and James, one under each arms, each of them in tiny tuxes. Lilly didn't even know they made tuxes that small but when she found them last week she knew that the boys would look adorable in them. "You look beautiful Lil" Lindsay exclaimed and Allie nodded in agreement.

"Thanks"

"Mummy pretty" Matthew gurgled

"Yeah pretty" James echoed.

"Thank you boys" Lilly replied.

Laura reached out to her and Lilly lifted her into her arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek "Are you and Daddy going away?" she asked in a sad whisper.

Lilly nodded "Yes but only for a week"

Laura pouted "But why?"

Lilly smiled "Mummy and Daddy are going on a honeymoon; it's a holiday that Mummies and Daddies go on when they get married"

"Can Me, James and Matthew Come?"

Lilly shook her head "No, baby. You and your brothers are going to stay here with Aunt Allie and Uncle Mike"

"Not fair" she exclaimed, crossing her tiny arms "I wanna get married so I can go on a honeymoon" and Allie, Lindsay and Lilly laughed, Lilly put her daughter down on the bed "Why don't you run that one past Daddy and see what he says"

"The car is going to be here in a few moments" Allie replied

Lilly sighed and nodded "Okay"

"Come on you three, let's let Mummy finish getting ready" Laura nodded and slid down off the bed, and toddled out of the room.

* * *

Scotty paced back and forth in the churches back room. He could hear the music from the organ playing in the church and could just make out the sounds of his family and their friends as they took their seats.

The door opened Mike came in "Allie just rang, they are leaving the house now so they should be here soon"

Scotty nodded "Yeah, alright"

Mike chuckled "You nervous little brother?"

Scotty scoffed "No" he laughed nervously and with a look from his brother he sighed "Alright, I am nervous"

"Its normal, remember me before my wedding" Scotty nodded. Mike's cell phone beeped, he took it out of his pocket and flipped it open. He chuckled and then handed his phone over to Scotty.

Allie had sent Mike a picture of the triplets in their formal clothes, his two handsome boys in their matching tuxes and his little girl in a beautiful white dress. He smiled "Good looking family Scotty" Mike said as Scotty handed Mike's phone back. "You and Lil want more kids?"

Scotty shrugged "I don't know, I'd love more but I think Lil is happy with the triplets"

Mike ran a hand through his hair "Allie is gonna kill me but I gotta tell someone"

"What?"

"Allie is pregnant, 5 weeks"

Scotty smiled and pulled his brother into a hug "Congratulations Mikey"

"Yeah, I mean we always thought that Em would be enough for us but now that she's pregnant again….who knows"

"I am happy for you man"

"Thanks, just don't tell Allie I told you, she doesn't want to tell people until the twelfth week."

"Yeah wouldn't want her to kill you"

Mike chuckled "No"

The door opened and Ramiro stuck his head into the room "Your mother told me to come and get you, its time"

Scotty nodded "Ok, here we go"

* * *

Scotty watched as the doors of the church opened and Scotty smiled widely as his three year old daughter walked up the aisle with Anita, one of his numerous cousins, scattering petals as she went. She reached the front of the church and tipped out the basket of remaining petals. Anita took her hand and guided her back over to the pews, pulling her into her lap.

Mike came up the aisle next, holding Matthew and James's hands. James waved enthusiastically to him and Scotty waved back.

When they reached the front Ramiro took his grandson's over to sit with him and Rosa.

After Allie and Lindsay walked up the aisle the music changed and the congregation stood up and turned to see Lilly. Scotty's heart skipped a beat as he saw her walking towards him. She was breathtakingly beautiful. He felt like the luckiest man on the planet, she was about to be his wife.

She reached the front and stepped up to him, taking his hand "You look so beautiful" he said softly and she blushed. The organ music stopped and everyone sat down.

Father Donnelly smiled at them and Scotty squeezed her hand and she squeezed it back.

"You two ready?" he asked softly and Lilly and Scotty nodded. Father Donnelly took a deep breath and started the ceremony

* * *

Scotty slid into the limo with Lilly that was going to take them to the reception hall. Once the door shut, Scotty pulled Lilly into his lap "Hello Mrs Valens"

Lilly giggled "Hello Mrs Valens" she whispered in his ear. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently.

"Feels so nice to call you that" Scotty replied, kissing his way down her neck.

Lilly giggled again and pushed him off "We can't do this now" she mumbled

"Why not?"

Lilly slid off his lap buckled her seatbelt. "Because we are almost at the reception hall and besides I don't want our children seeing us making out in the back of a limo"

Scotty took her hand and kissed it "Your right, guess I'll have to wait for the honeymoon then"

"I can't wait for that" Lilly replied and then she chuckled "Do you know that your daughter, announced that she wants to get married so she can go on a honeymoon"

Scotty let out a wry laugh "She ain't getting married till she's at least 50"

"Uh-huh, you just keep thinking that" Scotty's face contorted at the thought of his baby daughter getting married, he hated the thought of any one taking his Princesa away from him. Lilly leaned over and kissed his cheek "I love you Scotty"

Scotty smiled; he turned to face her and then leaned over to press a kiss to her lips "I love you too"

Lilly sat down at the table, her feet were killing her. She knew that she shouldn't have worn the shoes she did. But they went so well with the dress she'd picked out. She slid her left foot out of her shoe and rubbed it. "Shouldn't I be doing that?" Scotty whispered in her ear as he sat down beside her.

"Sorry, I just couldn't dance anymore"

Scotty shrugged and kissed her shoulder "It's alright, we can dance later" he said with a wink and Lilly giggled.

"Mummy, Mummy" Lilly looked down and saw James tugging on her dress.

"What is it sweetie?"

"Will you come and dance with me?" he asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes that Scotty was always giving her.

"Oh I am sorry honey, Mummies feet hurt?"

"But I wanna dance with you"

Lilly sighed and rolled her eyes "Alright" she said and she slipped of her other shoe "Come one then" James jumped up and down and grabbed Lilly's hand, tugging her towards the dance floor.

Scotty looked out at the dance floor, watching his friends and family enjoying themselves. He chuckled when he saw his five year old nephew Emilio, dancing with Laura, Matthew happily dancing on his own beside them and his gorgeous wife dancing with James who was standing on her feet.

He truly was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, in that moment, he had it all.

The End

A/N: thanks again guys


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